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The Curry Years: Smaller but Better

Northeastern
University

1989 - 1996

KAREN FELDSCHER

Northeastern

University

1989 - 1996

The Curry Years: Smaller but Better

KAREN FELDSCHER

N 1989, AS Northeastern University
neared its looth year, an alumnus was named presi-
dent for the first time. John Anthony Curry knew the
institution inside and out; not only had he graduated
from Northeastern, but he had also worked there as an
administrator for most of his life. While many sup-
ported the choice of Curry, some thought it might be
better for Northeastern to hire an outsider, someone
with a stronger scholarly background who could lead
the university to increased prestige and recognition in
the academic arena.

As it turned out, however, Curry proved to be
a very good choice — both for his administrative acu-
men and his determination to boost Northeastern's
academic quality.

Curry's extensive knowledge of Northeastern
proved invaluable in the early 1990s when a recession
and a drop in the number of high school graduates
combined to cause one of the most severe enrollment
losses in the university's history. In the winter of 1991,
Curry made the tough decision to lay off nearly 200
nonfaculty employees. He and his colleagues used a
variety of other techniques to manage the problem:
They cut budgets, merged programs, froze wages and
hiring, offered early retirement incentives, restructured
the university's debt, and created revenue-generating
initiatives. The measures were tough, but they
worked. Each year of the Curry presidency, the budget
was balanced.

(CONTINUED ON BACK FLAP)

Northeastern University

Volume 1

Origin and Development of Northeastern University
1898-1960

Volume 2

Northeastern University: An Emerging Giant
1959-1975

Volume 3

Coming of Age: The Ryder Years
1975-1989

Volume 4

The Curry Years: Smaller hut Better
1989-1996

John Anthony Curry

President, Northeastern University

1989-1996

Northeastern
University

1989-1996

The Curry Years : Smaller hut Better

KAREN FELDSCHER

Designed and produced by Northeastern University Publications
Composition by G&S Typesetters

Photo credits: Bachrach Photography, ii; Jim Harrison, 20; Jaymes Leavitt, 28 (bottom), 194;
David Leifer, 22 (top), io8, 112, 150, 170; J. D. Levine, 12, i6, i8, 19, 22 (bottom), 23 (top),
25 (top), 28 (top), 47, 50, 58 (bottom), 63, 66, 68, 71 (bottom), 72, 75, 85, 92, 96, 102,
120, 128, 129, 132, 134, 137, 148, 152 (top), 162, 164, 176, i8o, 185, 191, 192, 193, 202, 204,
205, 210, 211, 212, 216, 2i8, 220, 228, 230; Jet Photographers, 7, 215, 236; Glenn Pike, 21,
23 (bottom), 25 (bottom), 48, 58 (top), 61, 83, 87 (bottom), 107, 109, 113, 152 (bottom),
169, 186; Richard Pratt, 30; Todd Rich, 70; Tony Rinaldo, 140, 190; Anthony Salamone, 116;
Russ Sparkman, xviii, 14, 71 (top), 87 (top), 136, 207, 221, 231 (top); University Archives, 5.

Headline on p. 30 reprinted courtesy of the Boston Globe.

Contents

Acknowledgments vii

Introduction xi

1 • An Alumnus as President 1

2 • New Leaders for a New Era 15

3 • Surviving Tough Times 31

4 • Placing Academics First 51

5 • The Colleges 67

6 • For Cooperative Education, a Time of Change 121

7 • "The Focus of Everything We Do" 135

8 • Advancing Diversity and Community 151

9 • Forging New Links with Neighbors Near and Far 165

10 • A Campus Transformed 181

11 • Breaking New Ground in Fundraising, Alumni Relations 203

12 • Providing for the Student and the Student- Athlete 217

13 • Risk and Reward 229

Appendixes

Notes 239

Northeastern University Chronology, 1989-1996 265

New Academic Programs, 1989 - 1996 287

Professorships and Chairs through 1996 289

Faculty and Student Leaders, 1989-1996 291

Members of the Governing Boards, 1989-1996 293

Honorary Degree Recipients, 1989-1996 321

Index 325

Acknowledgments

Writing about Jack Curry's tenure as president of North-
eastern University was a complicated project. Over the course of nearly two
years, there were dozens of interviews to be conducted, numerous reports to
be read, Web sites to be scoured, and hundreds of facts to be checked. But
while the work was challenging, it was also exhilarating.

The energy that infused the Curry years was still present as I inter-
viewed people for this book. Faculty members, administrators, students,
alumni, trustees, and other members of the university community spoke of
those years with passion as they discussed the accomplishments attained in
spite of daunting obstacles. Listening to the story of Northeastern in the early
and mid-1990s, told from many different perspectives and with such obvious
pride, made writing this book an extremely positive experience.

Moreover, chronicling the Curry years was satisfying because, quite
simply, it's a great story. Northeastern certainly has had financial troubles at
various times in its illustrious past, but the early 1990s posed particularly vex-
ing problems. Relating how President Curry and his colleagues solved those
problems — and how they simultaneously managed to boost Northeastern's
academic standing and reputation and change its strategic direction — was
gratifying because, after many twists and turns, the story ends happily.

Of course, there are many individuals to thank.

My deepest thanks go to Jack Curry. Part of Jack's success as president
stemmed from his solid working relationships, and ours was no exception.
Jack was consistently kind, helpful, affable, and — as those who know him can
attest — he has an amazing memory. Working v^th Jack was a pleasure.

Similar thanks go to Jan Surette, Jack's longtime executive assistant,
who was wonderfully kind and helpful as we worked on the book.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I also want to credit two individuals who offered crucial pieces of ad-
vice to a first-time book author. Antoinette Frederick, who wrote two earlier vol-
umes of Northeastern histories about the presidencies of Asa Knowles and
Kenneth Ryder (which were indispensable to my work), told me that when she
confessed to Knowles that writing the book about his presidency was over-
whelming, his response was, "Of course you can do it! Finish it!" Whenever
I felt mired in my work, I thought of that remark and it definitely helped
me continue!

Thanks also to business professor David Boyd. When I confessed
early on that I was stymied as to how to proceed, he advised me to think of the
book as a series of related essays. That bit of advice was very helpful.

In addition to Frederick's books, two others were quite useful. One
wonderful resource was Tradition and Innovation: Reflections on Northeastern
University's First Century, edited by Linda Smith Rhoads. Another was the first
history of Northeastern by Everett Marston, called Origin and Development of
Northeastern University: 1898-1960.

Special thanks also go to Charles Coffin, former director of North-
eastern's university relations department and a close adviser and speechwriter
for Curry. Charles served as a topnotch editor for the book.

Other thanks go to Lance Wickens, who copyedited the manuscript;
Marie Salter, who proofread the text; and to members of Northeastern's publi-
cations staff who saw the book through production, including Robert Davison,
Magdalena Hernandez, Joshua Levine, Susan Piland, and Richard Pratt.

And I greatly thank Howard White, the computer whiz in the univer-
sity relations department, and his wife, Dorothy Matsik — who doesn't even
work at Northeastern — who put their heads together to help me traverse tech-
nological minefields.

Many others were helpful. They include: Hoda Abou-Jamra, Linda
Allen, Susan Ark, Scott Ashley, George Atkinson, Michael Baer, Anthony Baj-
dek, Ingrid Ball, Alan Benenfeld, David Blackman, Chris Bonner, Ruth Bork,
Cynthia Brown, Susan Brown, Christine Chevoor, John Cipolla, Mark Coates,
Irwin Cohen, Clare Cotton, Faith Crisley, Robert Croatti, Terry Cronin, Robert
Culver, Philip Cunningham, Martin Damian, Charles DiMarzio, Samantha
Drislane, Jean Eddy, Jean Egan, Richard Egan, Susan Ekizian, Charles Ellis,
David Enderlin, Elizabeth Everett, Deborah Feldman, Larry Finkelstein, Neal
Finnegan, David Flynn, James Fox, Peter Franks, James Eraser, David Freed,
Christine Gailey, Richard Caller, Barry Gallup, Daniel Givelber, James Gozzo,
Arvin Grabel, Suzanne Greenberg, Arlene Greenstein, Jack Grinold, Gene
Grzywna, Ellen Guiney, David Hall, Paul Harrington, George Harris, Daryl

VIII

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Hellman, Mark Hentz, Gerald Herman, Frederic Hersey, Arnold Hiatt,
Janet Hookailo, Malcolm Hill, Marie Patricia Hinds, William Hulsey, Polly
Hutcheson, Deanna Jantzen, Robert Johnson, John Jordan, Leon Kamin,
Thomas Keady, Paul King, William Kneeland, Carol Konis, Joan Krizack,
Richard Lapchick, Jason Lefferts, Jean Levesque, Walter Lind, Michael Lipton,
Robert Lowndes, and Carol Lyons.

Also, William Mallon, Robert Marini, Ronald Martel, Jack Martin,
George Matthews, Cathleen McCarron, John McDevitt, Terry Mena, Richard
Meyer, Carolyn Montalto, Christopher Mosher, Keith Motley, Rosemary
Mulvihill, Joseph Murphy, Richard Murphy, Richard Navick, Gail Olyha,
Edward Owens, Coleen Pantalone, James Patterson, Katherine Pendergast,
Stephanie Petty, Glenn Pierce, Patrick Plunkett, William Pressley, George
Proakis, John Proakis, Richard Rasala, Beth Rascoe, Eugene Reppucci, Jr.,
Karen Rigg, Daniel Roberts, Jeanne Rowlands, Kenneth Ryder, Valessia
Samaras, Jane Scarborough, Julie Schaefer, Richard Scranton, Peter Serenyi,
Wallace Sherwood, Janet Short, Cynthia Snow, Kenneth Solano, Bernard
Solomon, Samuel Solomon, James Stellar, Judith Stoessel, Paul Stonely, Phyllis
Strauss, Clarke Thompson, Robert Tillman, David Tompkins, Cathy Turke,
Robert Vozella, David Warren, Laura Waters, Ira Weiss, Karl Weiss, Jacquelyn
Wheeler, Raymond Williams, Frederick Wiseman, Marjorie Wiseman, Mishac
Yegian, Yaman Yener, and Eileen Zungolo.

Last but not least, I thank my husband, Dan, and my children, Adam
and Ben, for their support and love.

Karen Feldscher
August 2000

Introduction

i HE STORY OF Northeastern's FIRST CENTURY is the story of an
institution that outdistanced its humble origins time and time again. The uni-
versity took shape from a smattering of courses offered by the Boston YMCA
to local working men who had neither the time, the money, nor the social
standing to attend the likes of Harvard or the Massachusetts Institute of Tech-
nology. And yet, the small collection of evening programs evolved over the
decades into a national research university drawing students from Boston,
from the rest of the United States, and from countries around the world. Iron-
ically, the directors of the YMCA who voted in May 1896 to establish an
"Evening Institute for Young Men" were in no way angling for such a lofty goal;
they were simply attempting to coordinate and improve the YMCA's disparate
educational offerings.

But a new university did emerge, buoyed by a society burgeoning in
population, industry, and business, and by the efforts of a band of visionary,
hard-working leaders, including Frank Palmer Speare, the original director of
the Evening Institute who later became Northeastern's first president, and its
subsequent presidents — Carl Stephens Ell, Asa Smallidge Knowles, Kenneth
Gilmore Ryder, and John Anthony Curry. Over the course of its first century,
Northeastern would become known and celebrated for its professional and
technical programs, for its cooperative plan of education, for its growing and
flourishing arts and sciences programs, and for its commitment to addressing
the needs of society both through its educational offerings and its efforts to
spur urban progress in Boston's environs.

Such was the reputation of Northeastern University when Curry was
named its fifth president in June 1989. Himself a graduate of Northeastern,
Curry had worked nights to pay his way through college, like many of his
fellow students who rode the trolley up Huntington Avenue day after day in the

INTRODUCTION

1950s. He was the product of a time when Northeastern catered by and large
to local students — mostly men, mostly white — and was best known as a solid
teaching institution. But Curry, like Northeastern, evolved over time. He
worked at Northeastern nearly all his career, so he was able to observe, and par-
ticipate in, the many transformations the university would undergo through
the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s.

Curry started as a co-op student at Northeastern working under Ell
and his provost, William C. White. He worked with Knowles, president from
1959 to 1975, as the student population blossomed, new colleges were created,
new buildings were erected, part-time education was expanded, and suburban
campuses were opened. As righthand man to Ryder, president from 1975
to 1989, Curry helped develop and enrich Northeastem's humanities pro-
grams, expand research, introduce co-op to international venues, and begin
construction of a grand new library. And when he became president himself,
he took Northeastern to a new level by boosting its academic quality and rep-
utation, building technologically and aesthetically sophisticated new facilities
and improving existing ones, creating a state-of-the-art computer network,
championing diversity, fostering productive relations with local, state, and
federal officials, and involving students more than ever before in university
decision-making.

v-iurry's successes couldn't have been accomplished without the
bedrock of achievement forged by the prodigious efforts and unflagging ener-
gies of the university's early leaders. While Curry ofl:en survived on fewer than
five hours of sleep a night through his presidency, such dedication was not
new. Northeastem's first president, Speare — noted for his love of aphorisms —
reportedly said early in his tenure that "the person who works with one eye on
the payroll and the other on the clock is slated for the scrap-heap." Ell, North-
eastern's second president, was cast in the same mold; in June 1959, just
before his retirement, he spoke of his close colleagues as "men who had a will-
ingness to work days, nights, and holidays, and with no greater allegiance to
anything except family." ^

Such unconditional loyalty led to the steady growth that would
transform a loosely knit array of programs into a college and, later, a univer-
sity. Just two years into his job, Speare sensed a community need and a
market opportunity and convinced the YMCA's directors to open an Evening
School of Law.2 Thus was born the first school of what would later become
Northeastern University.

INTRODUCTION

Other schools followed in the coming years. The Automobile School
was established in 1903 as a market developed for training in the auto indus-
try. (The school was closed in 1926 after the market dried up.) The Evening
Polytechnic School began in 1904, offering an array of technical courses in ar-
chitecture, automobile engineering, clay modeling, marine engineering, navi-
gation, and steam and structural engineering — all subjects that spoke to
society's needs in the early part of the century. In 1907, business courses were
consolidated into the School of Commerce and Finance, renamed the College
of Business Administration in 1922. In 1909, the Cooperative Engineering
School was the first to adopt the new concept of cooperative education, which
would become Northeastern's signature program in the years to come. Pio-
neered by dean Herman Schneider of the University of Cincinnati in 1906,
cooperative education was an excellent fit for Northeastern, helping students
of limited means pay for their education while gaining valuable on-the-job
experience.

In 1917, all the different schools came together as Northeastern Col-
lege and were granted a charter by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts;
Speare was named president of the new institution.^ In 1922, Northeastern Col-
lege was renamed Northeastern University of the Boston YMCA.

In 1935, the College of Liberal Arts became the last school to be
founded under Speare. Two years later, the Northeastern University Corpora-
tion was established, and Northeastern became totally independent from the
Boston YMCA.

Also during Speare's tenure. Northeastern made its first moves to-
ward establishing a bona fide campus. The first purchase of land on Hunting-
ton Avenue was made in 1929. The following year, the college acquired Hunt-
ington Field in Brookline (renamed Parsons Field in 1969), and the Botolph
Building (renamed CulHnane Hall in 1985). In 1938, the young university
raised its first structure — the West Building, later renamed Richards Hall.

Ell, who became president in 1940, was known as "Mr. Northeastern."
He'd come to the university in 1910 as an instructor, teaching surveying at the
Evening Institute, and wound up staying nearly 50 years. By 1912 he was head
of the civil engineering department; five years later he became dean of the
Cooperative School of Engineering; and in 1925 he was named Northeastern
College's vice president.

As president. Ell presided over a vast building program that included the
construction of Science Hall (later named Mugar), the Student Center (Ell),
the Library Building (Dodge), the Physical Education Center (Cabot), Hayden
Hall, and the Graduate Center (Churchill) on 15 acres along Huntington Av-
enue. At the same time, the university quadrupled its enrollment, faculty, and

INTRODUCTION

course offerings/ The College of Education was founded in 1953. Ell also ce-
mented Northeastem's identity as an institution devoted to cooperative educa-
tion by expanding the program from an option within the engineering school
to an integral part of the entire university curriculum.^

Knowles was another man of energy, another high achiever. He started
his career at Northeastern as an engineering instructor but quickly moved up
the ranks to become, first, chair of the industrial engineering department,
then dean of the College of Business. In 1942 he left the university for 17 years,
during which time he worked as business dean at the University of Rhode Is-
land, created three colleges from scratch in upstate New York, served as vice
president for Cornell, led the University of Toledo, and somehow still found
time to write a popular textbook on industrial management.^

Knowles returned to Northeastern as president in 1959, at a time
when education was moving full speed ahead, driven by the influx of baby
boomers and the national determination not to allow the Soviets any more
coups in space like Sputnik, and fueled with federal dollars for scholarships,
research grants, and building loans. Knowles moved full speed ahead himself
he added new undergraduate and graduate programs; created four new col-
leges, including pharmacy (1962), nursing (1964), Boston-Bouve (1964), and
criminal justice (1967); reopened the law school (1968); and greatly expanded
part-time education, beginning Northeastem's successful strategy of launch-
ing satellite campuses to capture suburban enrollments.''

Knowles also initiated the university's first-ever capital campaign, ap-
proved the adoption of tenure and created the concept of a faculty senate,^ and
presided over the tumultuous years of antiwar protests in the late 1960s and
early 1970s. In fact, at one point during the nationwide student strike of May
1970, about 50 Northeastern students occupied Knowles's office; and at com-
mencement that year, a graduating senior made an unsuccessful attempt to
deliver an antiwar message onstage.^

Knowles's overall legacy was impressive. By the end of his tenure in
1975, the campus had grown substantially, to 50 acres, and boasted 27 new
buildings. ^^ And Northeastem's strengths — its professional schools, its coop-
erative education program, its adult education offerings — were firmly estab-
lished and well-knov^oi in Boston, its suburbs, and throughout Massachusetts.
Indeed, during Knowles's tenure. Northeastern had become the largest private
university in the nation in terms of enrollment. ^^

In 1975, Ryder, like Knowles and Ell before him, came to the presi-
dency with a thorough understanding of the university, drawn from his more
than 25 years as a history professor and administrator at Northeastern. Under

XIV

INTRODUCTION

Ryder, academic programs were upgraded and expanded. In 1980, the College
of Education merged with Boston-Bouve College to become the Boston-Bouve
College of Human Development Professions. In 1982, Northeastern estab-
lished the nation's first College of Computer Science. By the end of Ryder's
presidency in 1989, more than 19 academic centers and research institutes had
been established, several honors and remedial programs had begun, and 16
new satellite campuses had been created. The university installed, for the first
time, modem computer equipment. ^^ And construction had begun on a long-
awaited new library, a testament to the university's growing stature in aca-
demics and research.

Research and teaching were both enhanced during Ryder's ten-
ure. Between 1975 and 1989, funded research jumped from $4.5 million to
$16.2 million. To boost teaching, Ryder established the Excellence in Teaching
Awards to recognize teachers and the Instructional Development Fund to en-
courage better teaching. ^^

A 220 percent increase in fundraising revenues during the Ryder
presidency allowed for, among other things, the construction of five new facil-
ities, in addition to the library — Cargill Hall, Kariotis Hall, Snell Engineering
Center, the Solomon Track at the Dedham campus, and the new Henderson
Boathouse on the Charles River — and the renovation of Cullinane Hall and
Matthews Arena. ^"^

Ryder improved relations with the city, state, and federal governments
and with the local community ^^ Moreover, he improved relations within the
Northeastern community by implementing a more collegial form of gover-
nance, which helped heal the scars of a troubling union drive by faculty
members who, early in Ryder's presidency, had sought greater input into
university decision-making.^'^

Furthermore, Ryder's humanist bent had a positive effect on the uni-
versity: liberal-arts programs were enhanced, a much-heralded arts series was
established, and the campus itself acquired a softer feel as small oases of trees,
bushes, and flowers took root along pathways and in courtyards.

When Curry was elected president, his overriding challenge was to
assure the university's financial stability. Shortly after his inauguration. North-
eastern suffered the most dramatic enrollment loss in its history, the result
of a collision of external forces including a severe national and regional reces-
sion and a precipitous decline in the high school -age population. Through

INTRODUCTION

the early 1990s, Curry and his colleagues had to keep a keen focus on the bot-
tom line, to the point where they were forced to shave budgets, to freeze
salaries, and, for the first time in the university's history, to lay off large num-
bers of employees.

The early 1990s were not the only time Northeastern struggled with
financial turmoil. Indeed, the university had already finessed its way through
several potentially catastrophic ordeals; as a relatively young institution,
it lacked the substantial endowment that could shield it from such tumult.
Two world wars and the Depression caused enrollments to collapse, while the
post -World War II boom and the Cold War technology race had the opposite
effect, sending Northeastern, like other universities across the country, scram-
bling to accommodate thousands of new students in a short time.^''

Yet in all those instances, Northeastern managed to keep the financial
wolf at bay. During the wars, the university added military training programs,
established off-campus branches, and allowed women to register for courses;
during the Depression, co-op requirements were modified when there weren't
enough jobs to be had; and during the postwar boom of the early 1950s, with
returning veterans clamoring for education, the university moved quickly to
institute new programs and colleges. ^^

Curry, like his predecessors in other troubled times, attacked the uni-
versity's budget problems by cutting some programs, merging others, ini-
tiating early retirement incentives, and — armed with exceptionally creative
financial management — generating millions by restructuring debt and creat-
ing new revenue-producing operations.

But his lasting achievement was to conjure from the university's
financial crisis the academic transformation of Northeastern. An essentially
open-enrollment institution became much more selective, and its reputation
as a teaching and research university rose dramatically. At the same time.
Northeastern developed a more caring attitude toward its students and a more
intellectually authentic atmosphere. The improvements were so significant
that people on campus, colleagues at other colleges and universities, and ma-
jor media hailed Northeastern's success at remaking itself — particularly be-
cause the transformation occurred during difficult economic times.

When Curry announced in September 1995 that he would step down
from the presidency the following spring, the Boston Globe cited his "skillful
reshaping" of the university into "what is hailed as a smaller and better insti-
tution." And former Massachusetts governor Michael Dukakis, who went on
to teach political science at Northeastern, told the Globe, "This place is hum-
ming, and a lot of it has to do with Jack's leadership. "^^

XVI

INTRODUCTION

This, then, is the story of how Curry and those who worked with him,
in the face of severe financial hardships and in just seven years, enhanced the
university's academic quahty and reputation by boosting student achievement,
programs, research productivity, and teaching effectiveness; strengthened the
campus wdth new and renovated buildings, striking landscape design, and a
state-of-the-art computer network; and improved relations with government,
the community, v^th the public media, and with faculty and students. In short,
it is the story of how the "smaller, better" Northeastern of the twenty-first cen-
tury was created.

XVII

John Anthony Curry
speaks to a Northeastern
audience at the announce-
ment of his presidency
in June 1989.

CHAPTER ONE

An Alumnus as President

At noon on June 12, 1989, a beautiful, warm spring day, North-
eastern University's Blackman Auditorium was packed. The excitement in the
hall was palpable, punctuated by the rise and fall of voices and the sound of
hundreds of faculty members, administrators, and students moving through
the aisles. As the time grew closer for the program to begin, the low din in the
audience grew louder, in anticipation of what many already knew through the
campus grapevine: that John Anthony Curry, a Northeastern graduate and
longtime campus administrator — better known simply as "Jack" — was about
to be named the university's fifth president.

When the stage party entered, ringing applause broke out — Curry,
with his wife Marcia, was among the group, smiling broadly, arms extended
above his head in exultation — and then a hush fell over the audience. On
stage were Northeastern's power brokers: trustee chairman Robert H. Willis,
chairman-elect George J. Matthews, outgoing president Kenneth G. Ryder, and
a handful of top administrators and faculty members. When Willis made the
expected announcement — that Curry, the university's executive vice president
since 1984, would become the new president — the audience responded with
an enthusiastic standing ovation. Just after the meeting, Karl Weiss, vice presi-
dent for academic development at the time, told the Northeastern University
Edition, the university's newspaper for faculty and staff, that the choice of
Curry was a good one. "He knows this place inside out," Weiss said. "And
we're willing to follow him." ^

But not everyone shared the enthusiasm. In fact, a number of faculty
members sat stone-faced as Curry's selection was announced. Some even
walked out, convinced that the choice of Curry, an insider whom some faculty
members viewed as an able administrator but not much more, meant that

CHAPTER ONE

Northeastern would fail to grow and change, particularly in the area of aca-
demic stature.

As the nine-month presidential search had progressed, a number of
faculty members had maintained that Northeastern's next president should be
a nationally recognized scholar, someone squarely in the academic realm who
could help the university boost its reputation in both teaching and research
and attract better students and top faculty scholars. There were other concerns
about the choice of Curry, not just from faculty members, but from some
trustees, administrators, and alumni. They wondered: Shouldn't Northeast-
em's next president come from outside the university, to provide fresh ideas
and new vitality.^ While Curry had some fundraising experience as executive
vice president, shouldn't the new leader have even greater experience in that
realm.^ And shouldn't the person be able to operate with ease among powerful
business and political leaders in Boston and beyond?

Indeed, many felt that, as Northeastern was approaching its hundredth
anniversary, it was time for the university to make a visible break v^th its past.
Despite Northeastern's increasingly solid reputation as an excellent school
for engineers, entrepreneurs, and health care workers, despite an arts and sci-
ences college that was expanding and flourishing, and despite the growing
numbers of freshmen who were opting to live on campus, it was hard for
the university to shake its former incarnation as the "factory" on Huntington
Avenue, a commuter school that focused on "vocational" training for low- and
middle-income residents of Boston and its suburbs.

It wasn't only some outsiders who continued to underestimate the
school; many who worked at Northeastern also struggled with a sense of in-
stitutional inferiority. While many were proud of the university's tradition of
extending a hand to aspiring students who might not otherwise get a chance,
either academically or financially, at a university education, others worried that
continuing the strong emphasis on that mission would create long-term dam-
age. Some were uneasy that Northeastern would, for years to come, remain high
school seniors' second- or third- or fourth-choice school, always playing catch-
up with its Ivy League and better-known neighbors like Harvard, the Massa-
chusetts Institute of Technology, Boston University, and Boston College.

And so, when Curry was named president, many had serious reser-
vations. "My concern was that his entire career had been at Northeastern," says
anthropology professor Christine Gailey. "My fears were that this was yet an-
other old boy, and Northeastern had basically been an old boys' club for eons."

"Jack's strengths were very apparent," recalls David Boyd, a business
administration professor who served on the presidential search committee at

AN ALUMNUS AS PRESIDENT

the time and who later served as dean of the College of Business Administra-
tion. "He was well-known to the community. He was a product of Northeast-
em, but so much so that it was perceived by some to be a liability. Nobody took
issue with Jack's impressive record to date. But there were questions about
what he hadn't been asked to do: [substantial] fundraising, interfacing with the
corporate community, dealing with traditional faculty members."

Curry himself had big questions about whether or not to become a
presidential candidate, although they were different from those being asked
about him. By late 1988, at age 54, Curry had already put in nearly 30 years
at Northeastern, as a student, part-time faculty member, and administrator.
While the idea of becoming Northeastem's president appealed to him, he also
saw the advantages of slowing down, spending more time with his family, get-
ting to some of the hobbies he'd put off for years. In his role as executive vice
president of the university under President Ryder, Curry had become Ryder's
chief of internal operations, taking on a wide array of responsibilities, and his
days were typically grueling. He'd start at seven in the morning and work
through until six or seven in the evening, sometimes going later if there were
evening functions to attend. He often stayed up late doing paperwork, and
spent several hours on weekends working, too.

V^urry had come far, considering that his life had taken a series of dif-
ficult turns early on. He was born in 1934 into a working-class family in Lynn,
Massachusetts, attended Catholic school for eight years, and felt surrounded
by a loving family and community. An avid reader, he drank up biographies
as well as classics such as The Swiss Family Robinson and Great Expectations.
He'd sit around before dinner with his family listening to radio shows like
Jack Armstrong, The All-American Boy and Captain Midnight, and after dinner
to Jack Benny and the Lux Radio Theater. At Lynn English High School, where
he graduated in 1951, he ran track and played basketball; summers were spent
swimming at King's Beach in Lynn, where he and his younger brother Martin
would eat peanut butter sandwiches brought from home, washed down with
nickel sodas from the vendor at the beach.

But Curry's comfortable world fell apart in 1949 when his mother
contracted leukemia. The 15-year-old watched helplessly as his mother's health
slowly and painfully deteriorated. After her death two years later, his father, in
despair, sank into alcoholism. Curry mustered all his resolve — a character
trait that would stay with him and prove key to his success — and became the

CHAPTER ONE

family's caretaker, watching over his faiUng father and taking on the role of
surrogate parent to Martin. And what a job it was: one night in 1954, after com-
ing home from the movies with his high school sweetheart Marcia Mudge,
whom he would later marry, he saved his father's life when he found him
asleep in a chair set afire by a burning cigarette. His father never pulled out of
depression and drinking, though, and he died just four years later.

The tragedy of his family life shook Curry's faith. "When my mother
died, I thought, if God was so good, why did he take this wonderful woman?"
he recalls. "I didn't turn away from God, but I was bitter."

The same year his mother died, in 1951, Curry started at Northeast-
em as a history and government major. It was the only private university he
could afford; he chose Northeastern for its co-op program, because he needed
the money to support his family.

That first year was tough. Not only was he still reeling from the tur-
bulence of his mother's illness and death, but he also was, he says, immature.
Without teachers to pressure him to turn in his homework, as they had when
he was in Catholic school and in high school, Curry was caught off guard. His
first quarter he received four Ds and two Cs and almost flunked out. He began
to wonder whether he had the stuff to make it in college.

His schedule didn't help. He had to work both a co-op job and a reg-
ular job to help support the family. He spent days attending classes at North-
eastern or working on co-op, then returned to Lynn to work his night job at
Cushman's Bakery, where he baked bread from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. He never got
much sleep. That habit of sleeping little, and working hard, stayed with him
for years to come.

After that first dismal quarter, Curry once again drew on his personal
resolve to turn things around. "I was determined to pull it together," Curry
recalls. "Personal adversity causes people either to develop determination and
initiative or fall by the wayside. Due to the positive influence of my parents in
my early formative years, I was taught the former." By his second quarter, he
earned Bs and Cs; by the third, he was up to As and Bs and made the dean's
list, a feat he repeated every quarter after that, eventually graduating with a
3.5 grade point average.

At the same time that Curry was becoming a model student, he was
also getting an education about how to be a college administrator, thanks to co-
op. His first co-op job was as an "office boy" in the provost's office, right across
the hall from the office of President Carl Ell. Curry came to admire some of
the men he worked for, such as then-provost William White and Ryder, one of
Curry's history instructors and White's special assistant at the time. He was

AN ALUMNUS AS PRESIDENT

impressed by their friendliness and caring for people, but also by their ability
to be focused, disciplined, and determined. "The way they treated people re-
spectfully made a major impression on me," Curry recalls. "It made me want
to be like them. I still live it today. And I wanted to be of service to people."

Right after Curry graduated with a bachelor's degree in history in 1956,
he and Marcia were married. It was time to figure out what to do next. While
in school, Curry had formed bonds with two faculty mentors, history's Elmer

Cutts and education's Frank Marsh. Cutts wanted
Curry to work toward a master's degree in history
at the University of Rhode Island and eventually
obtain his doctorate and a university teaching po-
sition; Marsh, a strong advocate for public school
teaching, urged Curry in that direction.

Because he needed a job quickly to sup-
port his family, Curry chose the latter course, stay-
ing on at Northeastern through the end of 1956
and 1957 to earn a master's degree in education.
Even then he worked: he took courses in the
evening and, during the day, served as one-half of
the university's two-man security force, earning
the grand sum of $50 a week. Both that job and
his provost's office co-op job — in which he sorted all the university's mail each
day (the whole task took 10 minutes) and delivered messages across campus —
gave him broad familiarity with Northeastern.

After receiving his master's, Curry worked in the public schools for
six years. In Bourne, Saugus, and Newton, Massachusetts, he taught elemen-
tary and secondary school. He also held his first administrative posts during
that time, first as an assistant junior high school principal in Saugus and later
as curriculum coordinator in Nev^on. Then, in 1963, thanks to a recommen-
dation from Marsh, Curry was hired to return to Northeastern as an admis-
sions counselor by admissions dean Gilbert C. Garland.

Again, Curry found himself intrigued by the university. Asa Knowles
had been president for four years and was turning Northeastern into what
was then known as "the miracle on Huntington Avenue." Under Knowles, new
buildings were going up, new colleges were being opened, federal funds were
pouring in to help introduce new programs, and adult education — offered
for the first time by any New England- area university at suburban locations —
was expanding under a newly reorganized evening division called University
College. "To be part of Knowles's administration and see the great growth and

Former provost William White
was one of Curry's mentors.

CHAPTER ONE

development and maturity of the university — it was a wonderful place to be in
1963," Curry recalls.

If Curry learned from White and Ryder how to work hard and to work
well with people, he learned from Knowles how to be quick and focused. With
his authoritarian style, Knowles had little patience for long meetings. He'd
drum his fingers on the table when waiting for information, frequently not
even offering a seat to staffers who came to his office for a meeting. All the
same, Curry says, Knowles had a heart of gold. "He was a true mentor to
me," Curry says. From him and the others, Curry was learning valuable ad-
ministrative and political skills that would serve him well as he progressed at
Northeastern.

In 1965, Curry became director of educational placement in the
co-op division's graduate placement services office, helping newly certified
teachers find jobs. In 1967, he was named director of admissions, still work-
ing under Garland.

But after three years, he had a chance to boost his $14,000 salary to
$19,000 by returning to the public schools to become director of pupil person-
nel services in Swampscott, Massachusetts. Knowles told Curry he couldn't
match that salary, so Curry — determined to earn a better living for his wife
Marcia and his three young children — took the Swampscott job.

Two years later, though, in July 1972, Knowles called him back.
The president wanted Curry to work for Ryder, who had become execu-
tive vice president in 1971, and who was looking for a principal aide who
would help revitalize admissions enrollment strategies as well as oversee
several other administrative operations. Curry decided to accept the job. As
dean of academic services (1972-74) and later as dean of administration
(1974-75), Curry was responsible not only for admissions but for the li-
brary, affirmative action initiatives, human resources management, and com-
puter services.

Three years later, Knowles stepped down and Ryder was named presi-
dent. For the next 14 years, Curry remained at Ryder's side, serving as vice
president for administration (1975-79), senior vice president for administra-
tion (1979-1984) and, finally, executive vice president (1984-89).

As Ryder's right-hand man, and working closely with senior vice pres-
ident and treasurer Daniel J. Roberts, whom he also greatly admired, Curry
developed a broad knowledge of all of the university's functions. When he be-
came a vice president in 1975, he took on new responsibilities, including ath-
letics, the registrar's office, and the Northeastern University Press. As senior

AN ALUMNUS AS PRESIDENT

vice president, starting in 1979, he oversaw activities in five vice presidential
areas, including development, alumni development, student affairs, public af-
fairs, and human resources management.

Finally, as executive vice president in 1984, Curry was given responsi-
bility for overseeing and coordinating the work of all 12 vice presidential areas.
He oversaw all academics, developed major institutional policies, coordinated
a strategic planning effort, expanded student services, enhanced research, and

Curry poses with former presidents Asa Knowles, center, and Kenneth Ryder, right.

oversaw a $175 million fundraising campaign. He supervised the construction
and renovation of major facilities, including the new $30 million Snell Library.
He was also successful in boosting freshman enrollments and lessening fresh-
man attrition rates.

Ryder, for his part, saw Curry as indispensable. "In many ways, he re-
ally ran things," Ryder says. "One of his most significant and impressive qual-
ities was his energy level. And, as time passed, he had such a good knowledge
of the university, both from being a student and from a variety of administra-
tive responsibilities, that he had a perspective that was very hard to duplicate.
He was thoroughly aware of the things that were going on — and of things that
were not going right."

CHAPTER ONE

At the same time, Curry developed a network of loyal lieutenants and
supporters, from vice presidents to janitors, whom he would call on then and
later to help him turn ideas into action.

i3o when Ryder announced that he would step down from the presi-
dency at the end of the 1988-89 academic year, it seemed a logical next step
in Curry's career to become a candidate for the job. He felt that he had earned
the right to be considered. And, initially, he did apply for the post in the fall
of 1988. Curry's candidacy was not made public because the search was con-
fidential, though some insiders knew he had taken this step. Many more on
campus assumed Curry would be a candidate. Some faculty members ex-
pressed pleasure that he might become president; others made their opposi-
tion known early on.

Curry, in the meantime, was having nagging doubts about his deci-
sion to vie for the presidency. While he chafed at and wanted to dispel the no-
tion that he wasn't qualified to run the university because he wasn't enough of
a "scholar," part of him agreed with the opinion that an outsider — someone
with experience at other universities, someone with new ideas — would be best
for Northeastern. Also, Curry worried about the hefty time commitment the
job would require, about how it would affect his wife and children.

In December 1988, Curry did an about-face and told the presidential
search committee and trustee chair Robert Willis that he wanted to withdraw
his name from consideration. He announced to the university community
that he would not be a presidential candidate and that he planned to take early
retirement.^ Around the same time, a Boston Globe article reported, wrongly,
that Curry was stepping down after being told by a trustee that he was not con-
sidered a viable candidate for the presidency.^ Curry said later that no trustee
had either encouraged or discouraged his presidential candidacy.

In fact, after his announcement, he received more than 400 letters
and petitions — from trustees, faculty members, alumni, and staff — urging
him to reconsider. Perhaps more important, the soon-to-be-chairman of the
Board of Trustees, George Matthews, hoped that Curry would be in the run-
ning. Matthews felt that there was no one else who knew the university as well
as Curry. "I believed that he would be the best president," Matthews says.

Another longtime Northeastern employee and presidential search
committee member, treasurer Daniel Roberts, also thought Curry should be a
contender for the job. As the university's top money manager, Roberts knew.

AN ALUMNUS AS PRESIDENT

perhaps more than anyone, that the next few years would not be easy ones for
the university. Demographic statistics showed clearly that the pool of 18-year-
olds across the nation had been shrinking since the late 1970s, and would con-
tinue to do so through the early to mid-1990s, by more than 20 percent. In
Massachusetts, the drop was predicted to be nearly a third. And Northeastern,
an institution that depended on tuition dollars for close to 90 percent of its op-
erating budget — and that already had an acceptance rate above 90 percent —
stood to be hit particularly hard by these trends. Roberts, along with some
others who looked warily to the future, thought it would make sense to have a
leader who knew the university from the bottom up — someone like Curry —
when it came time to make the tough decisions that seemed unavoidable.

By April, Curry had quietly thrown his hat back into the ring. For
months — indeed, until the announcement of Curry's selection as president in
June — the search committee kept Curry's candidacy confidential, as they did
for the other candidates for the job. But talk of his reemergence as a candidate
continued to circulate widely on the campus rumor mill.

Handling the presidential search were two committees: a 13-member
presidential search committee including faculty members, senior adminis-
trators, support staff, students, and alumni, chaired by business professor
Frederick Wiseman; and a 7-member trustee committee, chaired by Thomas
Cargill, senior partner of Cargill, Masterman & Culbert, and vice chair of the
Northeastern University Corporation and Board of Trustees.^ A consulting firm
was also hired to aid in the search and, as the search progressed, the commit-
tees began meeting together as the Presidential Nominating Council.^

During the search, faculty members continued to air their concerns
about the "secrecy" of the process and to talk about what they wanted in a new
president. The Faculty Senate urged in November 1988 that it be given regular
progress reports on the search, that faculty members be able to meet with
short-listed candidates in open meetings, and that candidates have a distin-
guished record in teaching, scholarship, and research.^ In January 1989, psy-
chology professor Helen Mahut, speaking at an open meeting about the presi-
dential search, called for nothing less than a "Renaissance man or woman" to
run Northeastern. "We're looking for a genius," she stated.^

In the meantime, once Curry got back in the running, he pulled out
all the stops in his determination to succeed, as he'd done as a teenager, a
young college student, and in his successful career as a university administra-
tor. He enlisted several colleagues — Charles Coffin, his executive assistant;
Frank Farinella, his special assistant; and Arthur Smith, associate provost —
as a kind of campaign team to help him win the job. The group compiled

CHAPTER ONE

briefing books on a host of university issues and held mock question-and-
answer sessions to help Curry prepare for interviews wdth the search commit-
tee. "We would go off in the night and practice the questions I would face,"
Curry says. "We would practice responsiveness, being focused. I was like a
politician running for office. Once in the race, you don't leave anything to
chance — you prepare."

The national presidential search drew more than 200 candidates.
The four finalists included Curry; Bernard Harleston, president of City Col-
lege of New York; Joseph Duffey, chancellor of the University of Massa-
chusetts at Amherst; and Margaret McKenna, president of Lesley College in
Cambridge.^ Near the end of the search, Curry and Harleston emerged as the
top candidates.

Both the search committee and the trustees debated long and hard
over which individual would be the best president for Northeastern. The
search committee forwarded all four names to the trustees, who made the fi-
nal choice. While many trustees favored Curry, others were doubtfiil. Accord-
ing to several trustees who served at the time, some on the board questioned
the search process, arguing that all the candidates had not been interviewed
extensively enough and that references were lacking in some cases. Still, when
a vote was taken on Friday, June 9, the board was unanimous: Curry would be
president. The decision was announced at the June 12 meeting in Blackman
Auditorium.

But the issues that had surfaced during the search bubbled over im-
mediately. Just before and immediately after the June 12 meeting announcing
the board's choice of Curry, the Faculty Senate met in emergency session and
voted "no confidence" in the search process.^ The group issued a statement
saying that the Board of Trustees "has failed to choose a president with na-
tionally outstanding academic qualifications." They also maintained that the
search process had "minimized and frustrated faculty input, participation, and
review." They expressed dismay that they had thought for months that Curry
wasn't a candidate, only to learn that he was being chosen the next president.

The Board of Trustees defended its choice in the Northeastern Uni-
versity Edition. "The Board of Trustees elected the individual who could best
enhance Northeastern University's position as the world leader in cooperative
education, while at the same time continu[ing] to develop the academic excel-
lence of the university," said board chair Willis in the June 15 issue.^^ "That in-
dividual is Jack Curry." The July 13 Edition reported that the trustees held a spe-
cial meeting June 23 to discuss faculty concerns about the presidential search
process. ^^ In fact, the meeting covered not just faculty concerns but questions
among some trustees about the way the selection had been made, according to

AN ALUMNUS AS PRESIDENT

several board members. After some debate, the trustees voted unanimously in
the end to reaffirm Curry's selection.

Ljurry himself, although concerned by the faculty opposition to his
presidency, felt bolstered by the fact that the presidential search committee
and the board had chosen him as their candidate. "I felt I had been duly
elected," Curry recalls. "Never at any time did I feel that the majority of the fac-
ulty was against me."

In the spirit of achievement he'd demonstrated since his youth, Curry
was determined to prove his detractors wrong. He took seriously the Faculty
Senate's vote of "no confidence" in the search process and vowed to himself to
become a president who would be deeply respected for improving academics
at Northeastern and more than just a very capable manager.

"I am what I am," he told the Boston Globe. "I think I do what I do
pretty well, and it's up to me to prove to these people that I can be a command-
ing leader." ^^

At the June 12 meeting in Blackman Auditorium, speaking to the
hundreds who stayed to cheer his selection, Curry made it plain that he was
going to work hard for Northeastern and not let criticism dampen his enthusi-
asm.^^ He spoke of the importance of focusing on "the individual student's ac-
ademic achievement, career development, and social and intellectual growth."
He said the co-op department must be strengthened and that he wanted to see
co-op counselors spend more quality time with students. He talked about
choosing specific areas of excellence in academics. "The university cannot be
all things to all people," he cautioned. "But what we lose in breadth will be
made up in depth."

He added, "As president, I'm going to hit the ground running and I
want each of you to be there running with me. . . . Let's roll up our sleeves
and — together — get on with the job."

As it happened, Curry would indeed "get on with the job."

At his inauguration ceremony several months later, in a spiffed-up
Matthews Arena, Curry sounded several grand themes, speaking eloquently
and often movingly of the importance of education in a democracy. ^'^ He de-
cried what he called the nation's growing tendency to resign from the business
of democracy, to blame government and politicians for problems such as vio-
lence, drug use, struggling public school systems, environmental contamina-
tion, and poverty. "To point accusatory fingers only at government is to direct
attention away from 'we the people,'" Curry said. "It is time 'we the people'

CHAPTER ONE

spent less time decrying government's failures and more time posing ques-
tions to the face in the mirror."

Curry went on to call for the higher education community to demon-
strate what true citizenship in a democracy means. He urged that Northeast-
ern as well as other colleges and universities help rebuild public schools so
that children would be better prepared to become successful college students
and concerned citizens. He suggested that universities help public schools

Trustee Chair George Matthews, left, places the presidential lavaliere around Curry's neck at his
December 1989 inauguration.

by making available their resources, facilities, and faculty and student talent.
And he pledged to make Northeastern a better neighbor in the community and
to give scholarships to 100 Boston schoolchildren, if they successfiilly com-
pleted high school.

He also stressed how important it is for universities to be committed
to tolerance, inclusion, and the free exchange of ideas.

Over the next few months, and continuing through much of his presi-
dency, Curry made good on his commitment to the local schoolchildren and to
tolerance and inclusion on campus. And, although he didn't relish the task, he
led the university through what was to be the rockiest period of its history, the
years of enrollment downturns in the early 1990s. He would be forced to pare
down Northeastern's faculty and administration, to institute hiring freezes, to

AN ALUMNUS AS PRESIDENT

delay salary increases, and to put off desired improvements. And in what
would be the most difficult act of his career, he had to lay off close to 200 North-
eastern administrators and support staff, many of whom he knew personally.

And yet, given the obstacles, the university would make substantial
gains during Curry's presidency. Time and again, Curry would speak of his
goal of making Northeastern a smaller, better institution. While the under-
graduate population would be trimmed from 15,000 to 11,000 over the seven-
year period during which Curry served, students' SAT scores would rise
dramatically, by more than 65 points. ^^ Northeastern would move up signifi-
cantly in the Carnegie rankings of colleges and universities to a "Research 11"
university, one of only 135 in that category nationally.^'' A $100 million build-
ing and renovation campaign would change the physical landscape of the cam-
pus. Twenty-seven new academic programs would be initiated and key new
faculty members would be hired. Fundraising campaigns would bring in
millions more than ever before. The campus would see the development of a
university-wide computer system, and visitors such as First Lady Barbara
Bush and President Clinton would focus national attention on the underdog
on Huntington Avenue.

One trustee who initially had reservations about the presidential
search process — Arnold Hiatt, former chairman of the Stride Rite Corpora-
tion and later chairman of the Stride Rite Foundation — says he came to ad-
mire Curry more than many of his staunch defenders. "Jack was the perfect
president," he says. "His skills, and his understanding of the university
at a time of crisis, allowed Northeastern to meet its challenge. And it was no
small challenge. Jack did make it a better, smaller university, and he deserves
credit for that."

Perhaps more important, many of the faculty members who had so
openly opposed Curry's selection as president would come to see that not only
did he care about making Northeastern academically stronger and recasting
the university as it moved toward its second century, he accomplished what he
had set out to do.

President Curry (right) chats with provost Michael Baer (center) and Wesley Marple, Jr., chair of
the Faculty Senate's agenda committee, on the Blackman Auditorium stage before the start of the
1990 annual university-wide meeting.

CHAPTER TWO

New Leaders for a New Era

J\s Curry began his presidency in summer 1989, he knew
that Northeastern would have to be reshaped dramatically. Change was in-
evitable, partly because the university had a new leader at the helm, but also
because of the tough financial times in the nation and particularly in New En-
gland, where most Northeastern students came from. It was a period marked
by corporate downsizing, layoffs, and increased demands on workers. It was
also a time of shifting demographics, when the number of 18-year-olds was
dropping precipitously, boding trouble for Northeastern.

Given the bleak economic forecast, Curry decided it was essential
to create a leaner upper administration. As his first order of business, he
set about creating a new leadership team that he hoped would effect positive
change despite what looked to be a period of retrenchment for the university.

Curry had the added job of having to prove to the skeptics that he
would not be a "parochial" president, unable to develop a truly new vision for
the university. He knew that bringing "new blood" into top positions would
allow him not only to tap into new ideas but also to supplement his own
strengths with the talents of others.

"Jack was looking to complement himself," says Robert Culver, whom
Curry brought in as university treasurer in November 1990. "Jack didn't need
somebody inside; he needed people wdth new ideas, new skill sets. It was also
politically and communally advantageous to bring people in from outside, be-
cause the university, as well as the board, was longing for new blood."

Says Curry, "In effecting change and in putting together a new team,
I had the complete support of Chairman Matthews, and for that I will be for-
ever grateful. Throughout my entire term, I was fortunate to be partnered wdth
an outstanding leader of our board."

CHAPTER TWO

Within a year-and-a-half of becoming president, Curry brought in
Culver as well as a new provost, Michael Baer. Both came from outside North-
eastern; both arrived with new ideas for how to retool and accelerate the uni-
versity's engine. With Curry, they formed a triumvirate that would prove a lean
but highly effective leadership team. Curry also substantially revamped the
rest of the university's senior management, slashing the number of vice presi-
dents nearly in half, from 13 to 7 by January 1992. Moreover, Curry made a
number of other key appointments that would
augur well for the university in admissions,
financial aid, student affairs, public relations, and
government relations.

Curry's decision to substantially reduce
the number of vice presidents was aimed at
more than simply streamlining operations. He
also knew that, with financial belt-tightening
emerging as an all-too-likely reality, it would
be important symbolically and only fair to
make reductions not just among administrators,
weekly staff, and faculty, but among senior of-
ficials as well.

Provost Michael Baer

Dy cutting the number of vice presidents, Curry was able to concen-
trate power in the hands of several very able individuals. Perhaps nowhere was
this more evident than in the provost's position, which Curry had promised in
his first major university speech to make the "number two" post at Northeast-
ern, as it is at many of the nation's leading universities. In his September 1989
speech, he called choosing the provost — a move that would highlight the im-
portance of academics at the university — "the most important decision likely
to be made during my term as president." ^

As a number one priority, Curry felt it was essential to bring stability
to the provost's position. By definition, the provost was the university's top
academic officer, the person who set academic and research policy, who su-
pervised all academic programs, and who advised the president on all faculty-
related matters. Previously, the post had seen far too much turnover. In its
first 90 years. Northeastern had had just five presidents, yet in the 14-year pe-
riod prior to Curry's appointment, the school had gone though seven provosts,
three of them acting.^ At the time of Curry's selection as president, Robert

NEW LEADERS FOR A NEW ERA

Lowndes — on leave from his regular job as arts and sciences dean — had been
interim provost since July 1988.

In summer 1989, Curry was determined to conduct a national search
and hire a provost who would commit to staying at Northeastern for three to
five years and help steer the university on a path toward stronger academics
and a greater scholarly reputation. A search committee was formed in July; by
September, the committee was reviewing applications with the aid of a search
firm, and Curry told the university community that he expected to find a
provost of "great distinction" possessing "impeccable academic credentials."^
Curry stayed closely involved with the search throughout the process, actively
soliciting applicants himself and carving out time to meet with them around
the country.

Of a field of 65 candidates, 3 were chosen to make campus visits
the following March. A clear favorite emerged: Baer, who had served 22 years
at the University of Kentucky, 8 of those as arts and sciences dean. Given his
long tenure at Kentucky, it was obvious that Baer could make a substantial time
commitment to one institution. In addition, faculty were impressed with
Baer's open style and the fact that he had experience at Kentucky tightening
admissions standards, an issue in which the Northeastern faculty was deeply
interested."^

For his part, Curry — who met with Baer several times off-campus
during the spring and summer of 1990 — liked that Baer was focused, con-
genial, and a good listener, someone who promised to be an effective consen-
sus builder as well as a strong academic leader. He also recognized that Baer
had administered a complex college at Kentucky and had a solid background
in academic planning.

Baer himself was a bit skeptical. Although he was looking to move for-
ward in his academic career, he wanted to make sure he chose the right job.
He'd first seen the Northeastern provost's position advertised in the Chronicle
of Higher Education and — having never heard of the university — rejected the
idea of applying. A few weeks later, he got a letter from the search firm work-
ing for Northeastern, asking if he would consider the job. He made some in-
quiries about Northeastern among his colleagues at Kentucky. Some had heard
of individual Northeastern professors and knew them to produce high-quality
work. That piqued Baer's interest.

In the coming months, Baer would meet the faculty himself and
agree that most were of high caliber. And he came to find out why he
hadn't heard of the school: because, several Northeastern professors told him,
there hadn't been a tradition of encouraging faculty to participate in national

CHAPTER TWO

academic forums or meetings. Promoting that sort of participation later be-
came a top priority for Baer.

Another of Baer's concerns was the quality of the student body. The
average SAT score among freshmen who had entered Northeastern in fall 1989
was 889; that average included students in the university's Alternative Fresh-
man Year program, which accepted students who hadn't yet met the overall
grade average or SAT requirements of one of the basic colleges, but who showed

some measure of success or promise in their high
school records.^ During Baer's campus visit, a
number of faculty members had made clear their
dismay at Northeastem's less-than-stellar aca-
demic reputation. But Baer felt that the student
body, although not topnotch, was at least solid.
He decided to take the job and was named
provost in April; his appointment became effec-
tive August 1, 1990.

Curry made another major hire when
he brought in Culver, another outsider, as trea-
surer. Longtime treasurer Daniel Roberts had

Treasurer Robert Culver j i • ^ x • r ^ i ir»oo

announced his retirement in September 1988,

although he stayed on as a financial consultant for several more months, as
Edmund Deltano, vice president for finance, took over the treasurer's func-
tions on an acting basis. Deltano also planned to retire but agreed to remain
for a year to help to identify a successor.

Curry handled the search for a new treasurer himself between
the spring and fall of 1990, with help from Deltano and an advisory commit-
tee. Although the search was national, Curry chose someone from Boston.
Culver had just spent five years as a health care expert at the Boston consulting
firm of Coopers & Lybrand; before that he had held administrative roles at
the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority and in the Cambridge pub-
lic schools.

Other than the Boston connection, though, the choice of Culver wasn't
necessarily a logical one for Curry. While Curry had been reasonably sure
about Baer right off the bat, he didn't quite know what to make of Culver —
solid as a fullback, bristling with energy, unafraid to speak his mind. Curry
found Culver charismatic and could see that he was churning with new ideas
but worried that he didn't have the traditional background of a college finan-
cial officer.

According to Culver, his own interest in Northeastern came from his
desire to work for the public good, either in higher education or in health care.

NEW LEADERS FOR A NEW ERA

and from his eagerness to take on a new challenge. And he had high regard
for Northeastern. "I knew it as an institution that did good things for stu-
dents," he says.

Before Culver was hired, he and Curry met several times, engaging in
long discussions about Boston's two great industries, education and health
care; about different educational models for universities; and about how co-op
could be the wave of the future. In the end, Culver's aggressiveness, his ideas
about education, and his desire to help improve Northeastern convinced Curry
to make the hire. Culver started work in November 1990.

In retrospect, Culver says Curry's leap of faith in hiring him shouldn't
be underestimated. "He took huge risks, wdth me and with a couple of other
people," Culver admits.

But Curry, Culver, and Baer all agree that, with their different
strengths brought together, the leadership team worked extremely well. Baer
put it this way: "Any two of us couldn't have done it; it took all three. Jack's
strengths were knowing the campus and its history inside out, and knowing
the players — the staff, the faculty, the board — and understanding the political
environment in the Boston higher education community. Bob brought his
ability to think through systems, and ways in which corners could be cut with-
out hurting anything on the business side of the house. I think what I brought
was the ability to work with the faculty, to understand how one needs to com-
municate with them."

With the hiring of Culver, Curry's senior
vice presidential ranks were complete. He now
had three senior vice presidents: Baer, Culver,
and Eugene Reppucci, Jr., senior vice president
for development, who had been elevated to that
position by Ryder in January 1985 and whom
Curry held in high regard.

Curry's next step was to pare the vice
presidential ranks. In January 1991 — the same
month he was forced to announce Northeastem's
first-ever large-scale layoffs — Curry eliminated four vice presidential positions
and transferred most of the functions in those areas to either himself, Baer, or
Culver. The goal, he said at the time, was to streamline the senior administra-
tion in a period of declining enrollments and to establish a more sensible
reporting structure.^

Senior Vice President for Devel-
opment Eugene Reppucci, Jr.

CHAPTER TWO

Curry also dosed the Office of Administration, located on the first
floor of Richards Hall, which had included himself as executive vice president;
Philip Crotty, senior vice president for administration; vice president for ad-
ministration Christopher Kennedy, who had retired in June 1989 after serving
under both presidents Knowles and Ryder in a variety of roles; Phyllis Schaen,
dean of administration; and Humberto Goncalves, dean of administrative
services. Curry abolished his own post of executive vice president when he

Janet Surette (right), President Curry's longtime executive assistant, meets President Bill Clinton
prior to Northeastern's 1 993 commencement ceremony. Clinton is flanked by President Curry
(left) and trustee chair George Matthews.

became president; Crotty 's position was eliminated and he returned to teach
in the College of Business Administration; Kennedy's position was never
filled; Schaen kept her title and continued to oversee several administrative
units from the president's office in Churchill Hall; and Goncalves went on to
serve in various roles in the admissions, provost's, and budget areas.

Curry had brought one other person to Churchill with him early in
his administration, naming Arthur Smith to the new position of director
of operations in September 1989. Smith's role was to resolve conflicts and fos-
ter cooperation between academic and administrative departments and to act
as a resource and adviser to the president. Smith, who had already worked
closely with Curry on his strategic planning implementation team for two

NEW LEADERS FOR A NEW ERA

years, had served on the academic side of the house since 1978, first as a
dean in the College of Education and later as an associate provost. He retired
in January 1991.

Another important resource for Curry was Janet Surette, who had
worked for Curry since she began as a secretary at Northeastern in 1979. Surette
served as Curry's executive assistant when he was executive vice president, as
well as through all the years of his presidency.

A major goal of the reorganization, Curry told the faculty/staff
newspaper early in 1991, was to place any units that handled direct services to
faculty and students in the academic affairs area. Consequently, several such
areas that had been directed by Crotty — admissions, student affairs, the reg-
istrar's office, and Northeastern University Press — were moved to Baer's ju-
risdiction. Residential life was placed under Karen Rigg, who had been named
dean of students the previous summer and who reported to John O'Bryant,
vice president for student affairs. Curry took over human resources manage-
ment for several months, later entrusting it to Culver's purview. Other areas
Crotty had directed — administrative computer services, Lane Health Center,
and financial aid — also went to Culver. Schaen oversaw a handful of areas as
well, including public safety and athletics.

Curry also eliminated the position of vice president for human re-
sources management when Philip LaTorre, who
had held the post since July 1986, retired in June
1991. At that point, Katherine Pendergast, who
had been a strong second-in-command of that
unit since 1972, assumed its leadership single-
handedly as dean and director of human re-
sources management. Pendergast would later be
promoted as her unit's vice president after she
had successfully devised and executed a plan to
ease the painful experience of the layoff of nearly
200 employees in early 1991.

Another vice presidential position —
senior vice president for academic develop-
ment— was cut when Karl Weiss, who had been
named to the post in fall 1988, retired in early

1991. Weiss had boosted Northeastern's status as a research institution;
also, since fall 1989, he had served effectively as interim vice president for co-
operative education, during which time he helped revamp tenure policies in
the division.

Katherine Pendergast, vice
president for human resources
management

CHAPTER TWO

Jane Scarborough, vice presi-
dent for cooperative education

Curry eliminated two more vice presi-
dencies when the individuals in those positions
left the university. When Deltano retired in late
1990, the duties of vice president for finance were
assumed by the two remaining top financial of-
ficers of the university, the treasurer and the vice
president for business. The business functions of
the university continued to be managed effec-
tively by John Martin, vice president for business,
and William Kneeland, comptroller. Curry also
cut the position of senior vice president for gov-
ernment relations when James King left that job
in June 1991.

As Curry streamlined operations, he
also undertook a successful effort to introduce
more women and minorities into top-level posi-
tions. Pendergast was named a vice president
in 1993; but Curry had already named two other
women to vice presidencies. In May 1991, he
announced the appointment of Northeastem's
first woman vice president, Jane Scarborough,
as leader of cooperative education, succeeding
Weiss. Associate dean of the School of Law since
1988, Scarborough was tapped from a field of
80 applicants. Scarborough would prove effective
in shepherding the co-op division through the
difficult period after which tenure had been cur-
tailed and in her promotion of teamwork; she

would also endeavor to improve relationships among faculty, students, and co-
op employers.

In October 1992, Curry named another woman and an African-
American man to vice presidential posts.

Rigg, who had been dean of students under student affairs vice pres-
ident O' Bryant since summer 1989, was named vice president in the wake of
O'Bryant's unexpected death in summer 1992. O'Bryant had made significant
contribufions in the student services area, particularly in providing support for
minority students; Rigg would establish herself as a leader worthy of her pred-
ecessor, especially in her strong and close interactions with students.

Karen Rigg, vice president for
student affairs

NEW LEADERS FOR A NEW ERA

George Harris, who had worked at Northeastern since 1978, most re-
cently as director of administrative computer services, was named vice presi-
dent for information services. He became the second African- American, after
O'Bryant, to hold a vice presidential post at the university. It was Harris who
would later spearhead the process of wiring the campus, giving students, fac-
ulty members, and staff high-speed access to the Internet.

Several other appointments Curry made, although not at the vice pres-
idential level, proved central to the university's success in a number of areas.

To bolster Northeastern's public profile as well as its internal commu-
nications effort, Curry chose Charles Coffin as di-
rector of university relations. In Coffin, Curry
found someone who could not only direct several
areas — public relations, publications, the alumni
magazine, the faculty/staff newspaper, photogra-
phy, and special events — but also serve as his
speechwriter and adviser.

A Northeastern employee since 1979,
Coffin had led government relations under Presi-
dent Ryder and developed a strong working rela-
tionship with Curry in the late 1980s as part of his
strategic planning team. When Coffin took over
university relations, he and Curry developed an
aggressive communications strategy that would
lead to a dramatic increase in Northeastern's visi-
bility in the local and national media and would
garner many national awards for both the alumni
magazine and the in-house newspaper.

The newspaper, originally called the
Northeastern University Edition and renamed the
Northeastern Voice in spring 1990, presented de-
tailed accounts of many of the issues challenging
the university during the economic difficulties of
the early and mid-1990s. On the front page, the

campus community could read about enroll- charles Coffin, director of
ment declines, layoffs, complaints about tuition university relations

George Harris, vice president
for information services

CHAPTER TWO

increases, and other controversial issues. The pubHcation also highlighted
faculty research, innovative classroom strategies, and other items of interest
such as sports. Northeastern trivia, and information about the larger world of
higher education.

Some administrators felt the newspaper went too far — that it was stir-
ring up trouble, or that it would cause parents visiting campus to think twice
about sending their children to Northeastern. But Curry and Coffin believed
that it was better to keep lines of communication open about the tough issues
facing the university, and to involve the entire university community in the
hard work of addressing those issues.

Northeastern's alumni magazine moved in a similar direction. It fea-
tured compelling articles about campus issues and topnotch writing that led to
increased readership, major national awards, the willingness of many alumni
to pay a subscription fee for what had previously been a free publication, and
a new advertising program. Together, subscriptions and advertising generated
nearly $70,000 beginning in 1993-94; by Curry's last year as president, just
two years later, revenues topped $200,000.''

Northeastern's media relations efforts, led by Coffin and Mary Bres-
lauer, who came to Northeastern in June 1991, also grew significantly under
Curry. References to Northeastern in the media increased more than fourfold
between 1989 and 1996.^ Janet Hookailo, assistant public relations director un-
der Curry, who would go on to become director of the area and, eventually, act-
ing director of the university's overall communications effort, says the strategy
was to be proactive: to build relationships with higher education reporters,
as well as reporters on other "beats" that could be relevant to Northeastern,
and to identify prominent faculty members who could speak as "experts" on
topics in the news. For example, two Northeastern professors — sociology's
Jack Levin and criminal justice's Jamie Fox, who collaborated on studies of
serial killers and mass murderers — had made headlines throughout the
1980s and achieved even more fame during the 1990s. Other faculty
members sought after by reporters included, among many, the law school's
Richard Daynard, who often commented on smokers' efforts to sue tobacco
companies, and Richard Lapchick of Northeastern's Center for the Study of
Sport in Society.

Efforts were also made to place Curry himself in the news. Consultant
Frank Dobisky was hired to introduce Curry to key national reporters and talk
about Northeastern's "smaller but better" strategy. The work paid off: In Octo-
ber 1994, on the front page of its "Marketplace" section, the Wall Street Journal

NEW LEADERS FOR A NEW ERA

ran an article emphasizing Northeastern's success in handling its painful
downsizing.^ Two weeks later, the Chronicle of Higher Education ran a similar
story. ^" Articles also appeared in the Boston Globe and the Washington Post. Says
Hookailo, "Stories like that are worth tens of thousands of dollars each in free
advertising."

In another key appointment, Curry named Thomas Keady director of
government relations in June 1991.^^ Previously, Keady had worked under
King, directing city relations since 1987, but
Curry decided that the increasingly critical im-
pact of local, state, and national government ac-
tions on the university's operations warranted
that Keady report directly to the president. Keady
turned out to be another valuable asset in Curry's
administration. He eased long-simmering ten-
sions between Northeastern and some of its Fen-
way neighbors and fostered fruitful relationships
with city, state, and national leaders that
benefited the university in terms of public visi-
bility, political clout, and impact on public policy.
His most notable achievement was to help Curry
secure a $15 million federal grant for construc-
tion of a new science and engineering building at
Northeastern.

Another critical player in Curry's admin-
istration was Daryl Hellman. An economics pro-
fessor at Northeastern since 1972, Hellman had
first come to the provost's office in 1988, dur-
ing the Ryder years, when she worked for then-
provost Lowndes as vice provost for faculty af-
fairs and student relations. Baer made her
executive vice provost in 1991. Hellman, both
Curry and Baer agree, was a crucial asset for
the university during the downsizing period
because she was so effective in helping col-
leges, departments, and individual faculty mem-
bers cope with change. Says Baer, "Her contributions in understanding
the academic side of the university, and eventually the broader univer-
sity, and her skills with people, were some of the key things that made the

Thomas Keady, director of gov-
ernment relations

Daryl Hellman, executive vice
provost

CHAPTER TWO

downsizing work. She is probably the one administrator who had 100 per-
cent trust from faculty members."

vJf all the administrative changes Curry made, none was more nec-
essary than the transformation that took place in the admissions area.

At the time Curry became president, the Faculty Senate and the deans
were deeply upset about the university's essentially open undergraduate ad-
missions policy. Through the 1970s and 1980s, Northeastern's acceptance rate
had crept up steadily, from about 70 percent in the 1960s to more than 90 per-
cent by 1989. In addition, the Alternative Freshman Year program, which every
year admitted several hundred students who were deemed initially unable to
handle work in one of the basic colleges, had mushroomed in size between
1985 and 1989, from 421 students, or 11 percent of all freshmen, to 651, or
17 percent. Total freshman class sizes had hovered between 3,500 and 4,000
through the 1980s. At the same time, graduation rates had remained in the
low- 40 percent range through the decade; in 1989, for example, only 41.5 per-
cent of those students who'd begun school five years earlier were graduating.^^
On top of that, faculty complained that the wide range of abilities of stu-
dents coming to their classrooms — some were top students, others were mar-
ginally acceptable college students — was making it hard for them to teach
successfully.

Worse still, by fall 1990, the combination of a struggling economy and
a dwindling pool of 18-year-olds hit Northeastern with full force. The number
of high school graduates nationwide fell by 19 percent between 1976 and 1989;
in New England, the numbers dropped by more than 25 percent.^^ And pro-
jections showed that New England would face a greater erosion than the rest
of the nation into the early 1990s; according to U.S. Census statistics, the num-
bers would not grow significantly until the late 1990s.

While Northeastern enrollments had been falling slowly since 1981,
and while officials expected even smaller numbers in fall 1990, the magnitude
of the loss was staggering and unexpected. Freshman enrollments dropped a
whopping 28 percent in a single year; indications were that they would drop
even further in fall 1991.

Curry was sometimes personally attacked for Northeastern's admis-
sions policies, because he had been Ryder's top lieutenant during the years
when selectivity had dropped, and because, before that, he had been in ad-

NEW LEADERS FOR A NEW ERA

missions himself. Through the 1970s and 1980s, many Northeastern officials,
including Curry, saw larger incoming classes as a sign of the university's com-
mitment to accessibility. And, as Baer points out, that sustained period of
growlih helped Northeastern build up a substantial physical plant that would
serve it well in lean times.

Still, Curry later came to believe that he and other administrators had
essentially followed the path of least resistance. "It was a pattern of the times
during the 1970s and 1980s to keep growing the numbers, with not much con-
cern about customer satisfaction and the way we were perceived," he says. The
university came to be seen by many high school guidance counselors during
those years, he adds, as factory-like, impersonal, and not caring enough about
its students. "Even though we saw some of the decline coming," he says, "there
was no longer- range enrollment plan that was different from 'Let's keep the
numbers up to support next year's raise, next year's budget.' "

Northeastern's enrollments and student profile were affected by other
factors as well. Through the 1970s, the overall quality of high school seniors
was diminishing. Also, with fewer 18-year-olds in the market for a college
education, schools with better academic reputations than Northeastern began
to lower their own admissions standards to keep their numbers up, thus dip-
ping into Northeastern's pool.

Moreover, the university faced increasingly strong competition from
the growth of other universities, colleges, and community colleges in the
Boston and New England region, particularly the University of Massachusetts
system, which, like Northeastern, had as its mission providing an affordable
college education for Boston-area middle- and lower-class students. North-
eastern also faced stiffer competition in the adult education arena, which it
had dominated for many years, as other institutions looked to that market to
make up for the loss of full-time day students.

Curry knew that Northeastern had to implement an aggressive new
enrollment strategy that would fit his vision of a smaller but better Northeast-
em. He started by focusing on the admissions area. He and longtime admis-
sions dean Philip McCabe agreed that McCabe would become director of
alumni relations to bolster that unit, thus creating opportunities for change in
the admissions operation.

Just before McCabe 's departure, Goncalves, former dean of adminis-
trative services, had been reassigned to spend four months studying systems
and procedures in the admissions office and was expected to make recom-
mendations for changes regarding its day-to-day operations. By July 1991,

CHAPTER TWO

Goncalves was named to serve as admissions dean on a provisional basis, a
role he filled until Kevin Kelly was hired the following summer. ^^ Working
alongside Goncalves was a joint facuhy/administrative committee, appointed
by Baer and chaired by Rigg, that was charged with studying longer-term as-
pects of admissions office operations.'^

In the end, the soul-searching about admissions led to a complete
revamping of that area. One consultant engaged by Northeastern at the
time. Jack Maguire, had urged the university to
adopt the enrollment management concept. Ini-
tiated at Boston College, that concept called for
a close working relationship among several cam-
pus units including admissions, financial aid,
and other student service areas such as hous-
ing and student activities, bringing all those
areas under the jurisdiction of one vice president.
The goal was to stabiHze enrollments and build
stronger classes. Baer decided that the concept
made sense and, in spite of a hiring freeze at the
time, pushed through the creation of a new posi-
tion, vice provost for enrollment management.
In October 1991, Baer hired Peter Stace,
who had been dean of admission and enrollment
planning at Ithaca College in New York, as North-
eastern's new vice provost for enrollment man-
agement.i^ When Stace came in, he appointed
Jean Eddy, who had been the number two per-
son in financial aid, his second-in-command. In
June 1992, he hired Kelly as admissions dean
to permanently replace Goncalves. At the time,
Kelly was a top official in Boston University's ad-
missions office.^''

Stace would go on to completely over-
haul the university's admissions and financial aid
functions. John Cipolla, a longtime engineering
professor who became chair of the mechanical
engineering department in January 1991 and who was heavily involved in
Northeastern's strategic planning during Curry's presidency, calls the creation
of an enrollment management unit "a major change of inestimable value."

Peter Stace, vice provost for
enrollment management

Jean Eddy played key roles in
enrollment and financial aid.

NEW LEADERS FOR A NEW ERA

Combining admissions and financial aid fimctions, he says, was crucial to suc-
cessfiilly bringing new students to Northeastern because it enabled university
officials to target aid to achieve the class profile they desired. "They put things
together in an organization that made it much more sensible, much easier to
effect change," Cipolla says.

When Stace left the university in August 1995, Eddy stepped into his
role and four months later, after a national search, was permanently named
vice provost for enrollment management. ^^ A key player in helping Stace mod-
ernize enrollment management, Eddy sustained and expanded on that trend.

Perhaps the most important change under the new enrollment man-
agement team was that Northeastern's essentially open admissions policy came
to an end, in accordance with mandates from Curry as well as the trustees. Not
only was the policy deadly during an economically difficult period with fewer
18-year-olds; but it was also deadly if Northeastern wanted to boost its aca-
demic reputation. In order for Curry's concept of "smaller but better" to be-
come a reality, the university would eventually lower its overall acceptance rate,
take in freshman classes ranging between 2,500 and 2,800 instead of close to
4,000, and make strenuous efforts to boost financial aid and retention.

The transformations in admissions — as well as the changes in other
administrative areas that brought new leaders to the fore — would prove potent
in combating the toxic combination that resulted from the economic down-
turn and the smaller pool of students that faced Northeastern in the early
1990s. As the scope of the threat to its very survival became obvious, the uni-
versity would find it necessary to make a host of other changes to keep its
budget balanced and move forward with desired improvements. With fewer
students, this was the bottom line: Northeastern would have to cut millions
from its budget in the early 1990s, while at the same time spending more on
key initiatives needed to make the university more selective.

Ironically, no one really knew the magnitude of the storm that was
poised to strike Northeastern until it actually hit. As Culver puts it, "You can
feel the waves starting to build, the weather forecast would indicate that it's go-
ing to get pretty bad, but you still believe that your boat will do okay."

As it turned out, Northeastern would, in the end, ride out the storm
far better than many might have expected. But the forces that buffeted the uni-
versity in the early 1990s were to prove a grueling test for Curry and his new
leadership team.

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175 nonfaculty layoffs
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CHAPTER THREE

Surviving Tough Times

As HUNDREDS OF MEMBERS of the Noitheastem Community filed
into Blackman Auditorium on January 17, 1991, for a special address from
President Curry a surreal quality of foreboding hung in the air, far dif-
ferent from the eager anticipation that had greeted the announcement of
Curry's presidency 18 months earlier. While many had long known that
the university was facing lean times, they had learned just the day before —
through an article in the Boston Globe — that a large-scale layoff would occur at
Northeastern for the first time ever. Clearly, Curry intended to address the job
cuts in his speech.

It was shocking news for a place that was often referred to by its work-
ers as a "mom and pop" operation — "the Northeastern family." Scores of indi-
viduals had served the university for decades, a testament to the quality of its
work environment. Indeed, the university had a reputation in Boston as being
a good place to build a career, an organization that cared about its employees.
How could layoffs happen at a place like this.^

But they were happening. A somber Curry took the podium and be-
gan to talk about the "cruel irony" of a severe recession hitting at precisely the
time of the most precipitous decline in the number of college-age students in
the nation's history. "Northeastern is by no means alone among colleges and
universities in having to face hard times after at least fifteen years of uninter-
rupted growth," he said. But, he added, because Northeastern was one of the
largest universities in the country, "the impact of economic cycles [on the uni-
versity] is disproportionately large, swift, and visible." ^

The audience listened, silent, as Curry apologized for not having
had the chance to explain the university's troubles himself before the Globe
article appeared.

CHAPTER THREE

Then he outlined the situation. Enrollments were substantially down:
overall undergraduate enrollments were off by 10 percent, and — the real
shocker — freshman enrollments had dropped by 28 percent in the fall. Winter
enrollments were 21 percent lower than the year before. Steps that had been
taken over the past several months — delaying salary raises, establishing a hir-
ing freeze, cutting nonsalary budgets — saved $11 million but still would not
be enough to balance the budget. In fact, taking into account absolute neces-
sities, such as investments in technology, financial aid, library acquisitions, and
salary-raise pools, the university would face a $17 million deficit in its 1991-92
budget if it didn't move immediately to correct the situation, Curry said.

To offset the projected budget gap, Curry described how he would
reduce the number of vice presidents, further shave nonsalary budgets, and
continue the hiring freeze. And, he added, "It is with deep sadness and great
reluctance that I am ordering a 175-person reduction in administiative and
support staff during the next four weeks." The move, he said, would reduce the
university's work force by more than 7 percent and would save $7 million. As
Curry neared the end of his address, noting that "the challenge of the next
several weeks will be the toughest and most painful yet in creating change at
Northeastern," his voice broke.

Employees looked grim as they left Blackman. Many shook their
heads when reporters for the Northeastern Voice asked them to comment. But
several said that, while they certainly weren't happy about the layoffs, they rec-
ognized that it needed to be done. Commented one employee of Curry's deci-
sion, "What else is he going to do?"

r\s Curry had said, Northeastern was not alone in its tioubles. In-
deed, colleges and universities from California to Connecticut were facing sim-
ilar budget crises. After a period of rapid growth in the 1980s, institutions of
higher education began to feel the effects of a nationwide drop in the number
of high school graduates, ^ which fell from a high of nearly 3.2 million in 1976
to 2.6 million, a 19 percent decrease, by the year Curry came to the Northeastern
presidency, and which didn't increase until well into the 1990s. ^ In Massachu-
setts, the numbers were even bleaker, falling from 75,000 to 56,000 between
1980 and 1989, a drop of more than 25 percent;"* at their lowest point in
1993-94, the Massachusetts numbers would drop even further, to 48,000.^ To
make matters worse for colleges across the state, a sluggish economy damp-

SURVIVING TOUGH TIMES

ened endowment performance and alumni giving; insurance costs rose; and,
for some schools, deferred maintenance could no longer be put off At the
same time, higher education institutions had to back off from double-digit tu-
ition increases as the economy slowed and parents questioned skyrocketing
costs. Also, both state and federal financial aid decreased, and the federal gov-
ernment cut back research funding.

Institutions responded to the financial squeeze with tactics such
as administrative restructuring, salary freezes, travel restrictions, and early
retirement plans. Later, they would move to layoffs and, in some cases, de-
partment closings.

One of the first institutions to feel the pinch, endowment-rich Stan-
ford University, announced in February 1990 that it would slash its budget by
$22 million, or 13 percent,*^ in large part by laying off about 400 nonfaculty
workers by September 1991.^ Faculty and students complained — some even
staged sit-ins — but Stanford's then-provost, James Rosse, insisted that the
prestigious university must make hard choices in order to keep the books
balanced.

Stanford's peer schools faced similar difficulties. In 1989 and 1990,
Columbia dropped its linguistics and geography departments and closed its
School of Library Science, one of the oldest in the country.^ In 1991, a group of
26 professors threatened to resign their positions as department chairs if there
were further budget cuts in arts and sciences.^

Yale, facing an $8.8 million budget deficit in 1991, slashed budgets by
12 percent, eliminated several varsity sports, and cut 300 jobs.^° At the same
time, the school faced thorny labor negotiations with nonteaching staff, while
graduate students moved to form their own union. The bitter controversy
eventually resulted in the resignation of the provost, the dean of the under-
graduate college, and the university's president, Benno C. Schmidt, Jr.^^

Other institutions made hard choices, too. Dartmouth, Brandeis,
Smith, Wesleyan, Bowdoin, and the Universities of Connecticut, Kentucky,
and Pennsylvania — to name just a few — faced substantial deficits that re-
quired painful budget cuts, delays in maintenance programs, the elimination
of some sports, and, in some cases, layoffs.

Among institutions of higher education. Northeastern faced troubles
that were particularly acute for several reasons. For one thing, the recession
slowing the nation as a whole was even more severe in Massachusetts. Be-
tween 1988 and 1991, according to Northeastern economist Paul Harrington,
the Commonwealth lost 365,000 jobs — an 11 percent decrease. Harrington

CHAPTER THREE

calls it "the worst period of job loss in the history of the state going back to the
Great Depression."

But Northeastern fared worse than many other Massachusetts schools
because the recession, which resulted in a major loss of manufacturing and
construction jobs, hit hardest among families of moderate-income levels —
precisely those families from whose ranks Northeastern had traditionally
drawn the bulk of its student body, according to Harrington. At the same time,
Northeastern's tuition and fees had been increasing rapidly; they rose each
year between 7 and 13 percent through most of the 1980s, despite the fact that
inflation during those years was relatively low, averaging just over 4 percent.^^

Because of those tuition increases, student earnings from co-op jobs,
which averaged about 165 percent of a student's quarterly tuition in the 1970s,
were covering an average of only 80 to 85 percent of the cost of tuition and fees
by the mid-1980s, according to Harrington.

Northeastern's enrollments were also affected when other colleges and
universities wdth better academic reputations began lowering their acceptance
standards to keep their own enrollments up, thus drawing on Northeastern's
pool. But Northeastern, unlike other schools, didn't have the option of lower-
ing its acceptance standards any further; it was already accepting between 93
and 94 percent of all applicants. In addition, the shrinking pot of federal and
state financial aid forced some students to cancel college plans and go to work
instead. Others chose less expensive public institutions. Northeastern officials
also speculated at the time that the media orgy of publicity about crime in
Boston — specifically, the Carol DiMaiti Stuart murder and, less than three
months later, the murder of Northeastern freshman Mark Belmore in January
1990, just off campus — might have deterred some applicants. Co-op, too, was
affected by the ailing economy. Some companies, as part of their downsizing,
cut co-op jobs as well as regular jobs. That sometimes meant that Northeastern
co-op students faced tougher job searches, or that they had to accept second-
or third-choice jobs instead of top choices. Companies also cut back on tuition
reimbursement plans, which affected Northeastern's part-time and graduate
enrollments. Graduate enrollments remained relatively flat during the Curry
years; part-time enrollments fell nearly 25 percent, partly because other insti-
tutions, which had previously not offered part-time adult education, started to
feature such programs. ^^

Taken together, all these factors put Northeastern in substantial jeop-
ardy. Northeastern's enrollment loss — about 1,000 freshmen in just one year —
was the largest of any university in Massachusetts. Northeastern officials

SURVIVING TOUGH TIMES

had expected a drop but were shocked at its magnitude. The huge enrollment
decline, and subsequent fluctuations, would plague Northeastern's budget
through almost all of Curry's seven years as president. "We stabilized under-
graduate enrollments only a year before I left," says Curry, who admits that his
job was often difficult and challenging. "We were always struggling."

Still, Curry and his colleagues were determined to see the university
through what would prove to be one of the most difficult periods in its history.
"The challenge," says Curry, "was not only how to stabilize the situation but
to continue to use the occasion to transform Northeastern into a stronger aca-
demic institution. It was no small task."

Although early in his presidency Curry couldn't foresee the magni-
tude of the budget problems, he did know there would be trouble, and he
shared that information with the university community well before the an-
nouncement of layoffs. Starting in fall 1989, articles in the Northeastern Voice
spoke of the changing demographics, the projections that the college-age pool
was dv^ndling. The September 1989 freshman class, at 3,833, was already 6 per-
cent smaller than it had been the year before. By May 1990, officials knew that
fall 1990 enrollments would drop roughly 25 percent. Late that month, Curry
sent a letter to the university community discussing the numbers and impos-
ing a six-month salary and hiring freeze and cutting nonsalary budgets to off-
set a predicted $11 million shortfall in the university's $232 million 1990-91
budget. At the time, Curry called the situation "serious" but "not a crisis."^"*

Officials continued to keep a close watch on enrollments — and pored
over the budget — through the summer and early fall. Shortly after Michael
Baer came on as provost in August 1990, he prepared spreadsheets for Curry
showing that the expected 1,000-student drop in freshman enrollments would
affect the overall enrollment picture not only in 1990-91 but also in years to
come as well, as smaller classes moved through their Northeastern years while
larger classes admitted in the late 1980s graduated.

To Curry, it was clear that there was only one way out: Northeastern
had to become a smaller institution. Regrowdng its student numbers really
couldn't be done because it would mean lowering already lax acceptance stan-
dards. And that didn't make sense if Northeastern was to improve its quality.

In his opening speech to the university community on September 14,
1990, Curry again spoke of the dismal fiscal realities in Massachusetts and

CHAPTER THREE

New England, the drop in the number of high school graduates nationally, and
declining federal and state grants and loans for students. Then he outlined the
vision he would pursue throughout the rest of his presidency: to make North-
eastern "smaller but better."

He asked the audience, "Are the policies of the past the ones we ought
to pursue in the future? Over the past twenty years, the university's growth
in programs, budgets, and employment has been driven by an enrollment and
admissions philosophy that has all the elements of the tail wagging the dog.
We have welcomed almost all students who meet the basic admissions require-
ments. ... I am not now going to second-guess those policies and practices of
the past; indeed, I have been their advocate and in some cases their architect."

But, Curry continued, "Today I call for something very different, and
I ask you to join me and support me in a bold, aggressive strategy for the fu-
ture. The time has come to put the policies of the past behind us. The time has
come to take command of our own destiny, so that by the middle of the decade.
Northeastern University will be a smaller, leaner, better place to work and
study in — a place where academic excellence thrives through quality, not
quantity." ^^

Curry then gave details of his plan. He said he would cap freshman
enrollments at 2,700 for fall 1991, with the goal of stabilizing enrollments at
2,500 by mid-decade; later that goal would broaden to between 2,500 and 2,800.
He said he would limit the 1991-92 tuition increase to no more than 5 per-
cent, while increasing financial aid. And, Curry said, the hiring freeze would
continue while raises, delayed since July, would be given on January 1, 1991.

He also said that the university would have to reallocate its resources
and limit "unnecessary, redundant, or marginal functions," and that recom-
mendations for cost savings would be made shortly.

The grim enrollment figures that were confirmed in early October
1990 made clear that the path outlined by Curry the month before was neces-
sary, but not, unfortunately, sufficient. The registrar's office reported that only
2,730 freshmen had enrolled for 1990-91, a decline of 1,071 — 28 percent —
over the past year. Of the total applicant pool of 10,600, about 10,300 had been
granted admission. It was Northeastern's smallest incoming class in nearly
two decades.

The enormity of the enrollment problem prompted Northeastern's
board of trustees to become actively involved as well. In fall 1990, trustee chair
George Matthews appointed a special committee on enrollments headed by
trustee Neal Finnegan, who later would become trustee chair himself The

SURVIVING TOUCH TIMES

committee worked closely with Curry, Baer, and treasurer Robert Culver to re-
view and make recommendations to the full board concerning future enroll-
ment policy.

In April 1991, the special committee issued a report that concurred
with Curry and his colleagues that Northeastern had to boost its selectivity, in-
crease its financial aid dollars, and improve student retention in order to com-
bat the steep enrollment drop. The report also noted that selectivity could be

achieved only by improving Northeastem's repu-
tation and reducing the size of the undergraduate
student body. Further, the committee noted its
strong support for Curry's handling of the crisis. ^^
Curry says the special committee's en-
dorsement of his downsizing plan was crucial in
moving the university forward during a difficult
juncture in its history, and he praises Finnegan
for his leadership and understanding of the need
to reshape Northeastern.

Finnegan agrees that the work of the
special committee was helpful during a rough pe-
riod for the university. "We met wdth the admin-
istration for many hours," he says. "The trustees
were gravely concerned about whether the school was going in the right direc-
tion, and the committee was basically charged with taking a look at why we had
experienced such a sharp drop in enrollment." The result of the committee's
work: a strong consensus emerged among Curry, other top officials, and the
trustees about how to propel Northeastern past its budget problems in new
strategic directions.

Neal Finnegan headed a trustee
committee on enrollments.

i he goal of "smaller but better" made sense for Northeastern as a
long-term strategy, but it wasn't going to solve the university's budget prob-
lems in the short run. By November 1990, senior administrators realized that
the university's freeze on hiring and predicted workforce attrition for the com-
ing year wouldn't produce enough income to meet expected expenditures. Lay-
offs were inevitable.

Through late November and early December, a small group includ-
ing Curry, Baer, Culver, human resources' Philip LaTorre and Katherine

CHAPTER THREE

Pendergast, treasurer Edmund Deltano, controller William Kneeland, and
bursar Martin Damian met twice weekly to map out a strategy for handling the
layoffs. The group quickly decided that faculty positions would be left intact,
because eliminating the jobs of tenure-track faculty would certainly hurt the
university's chances of attracting quality professors in the future. Moreover,
officials felt they needed to demonstrate to faculty that they would look first to
their own ranks when it came to cutting positions.

The group estimated that 175 layoffs would be needed. Curry then di-
rected each vice president to rank positions in his area according to how criti-
cal they were to the university's functioning. The goal was to focus on posi-
tions, not people. The task was both overwhelming and painful, and took up
much of the time of top administrators through December and part of Janu-
ary. But the undertaking had to be handled fairly. For years, Northeastern had
tried to act morally with its employees, and now was no time for an exception.

"There were extremely painful moments, but people were trying to
do the right thing by the university, and do the right thing by our employees,"
says Pendergast, who recalls devising the layoff plan during her Christmas
vacation in Florida. "Northeastern has long attempted to be a highly ethical
place, and that was high in the order of things. For example, we had to decide,
were we going to lay off a husband and wife on the same day.^ No. We decided
against that."

She adds, "We were determined to have a fair process for selecting
positions, a process that preserved essential functions, minimized disruptions
to departments, was responsive to human resources issues and employee
morale, and would minimize risk and exposure."

To gather information about how best to handle the layoffs, Pender-
gast consulted with Boston-area human resources officials at businesses,
banks, hospitals, and other institutions. But there were no educational in-
stitutions she could turn to for help; Northeastern was the only school in
the region facing layoffs. Indeed, after the layoffs were over, and in the
years ahead, other troubled institutions turned to Northeastern for advice,
Pendergast says.

Working with the ranked lists of positions from each of the vice presi-
dents, Pendergast and other top administrators spent day after day figuring
out where to make the cuts. They considered not only the importance of the
position but also the race, sex, age, and length of service of those who held
the positions, to make sure that no one group would suffer disproportionately.
For managers who were responsible for informing individuals that their

SURVIVING TOUGH TIMES

jobs would be eliminated, there were training sessions outlining how to break
the news and giving information about resources that would be available for
those laid off

On the day individuals were informed of the elimination of their
positions — two weeks after Curry announced the layoffs — the university
lined up counselors, physicians and nurses, and security personnel to help if
needed. No one was "escorted" out of his or her office; that was disrespectful,
officials felt, and would not give people a chance to say goodbye. Instead, em-
ployees were given the option of leaving that day or staying at their jobs for
up to two weeks longer. They were offered generous severance packages with
continuing health benefits, an outplacement program, and support in seek-
ing new jobs.

In the end, there was just one legal challenge as a result of the layoffs.
Pendergast calls that "a miracle." In fact, she says, layoffs at other institutions
were sometimes handled very poorly and resulted in much bitterness. At
Middlebury College in Vermont, for example, where layoffs occurred in May
1991, 17 staff people were called from their offices, driven across campus to
a barn where they were told they were being dismissed, handed a packet of
outplacement information, and forbidden to return to their offices during
working hours. ^^ After the incident, more than 400 people staged a campus
rally protesting not only what faculty members called the "Gestapo-like tactics"
used in making the layoffs but also the fact that many of those dismissed were
over age 55, or women, or both.

Pendergast calls the Middlebury layoffs "terrible." But at Northeast-
ern, she says, "The vast majority of people thought it was very painful, but not
unfair. They thought it was handled decently."

In mid-February, some laid-off employees told the Voice that while
they had some questions about how the process was carried out and admitted
that they were angry and hurt, they also understood that the university
was forced to make cuts somewhere. One said, "I guess there's no good way
to be laid off "^*

The layoffs took their toll not only on those whose positions were
eliminated but on those who remained. In the early months of 1991, employ-
ees talked among themselves and in the pages of the Voice about dealing with
"survivor guilt." Curry himself was not immune. Deciding to proceed with the
layoffs had left him with a "tremendous wave of bad feeling," he says. He had
been part of the group of employees who had witnessed and benefited from
the university's growth under Presidents Knowles and Ryder, and he says it

CHAPTER THREE

was extremely difficult to "come in as an old member of the family, cutting
jobs. I felt a major responsibility to take care of Northeastern people because
we always thought of ourselves as family."

On the other hand, Curry acknowledges, "Perhaps being a veteran
of the university community allowed me to understand where the expansion
had occurred and where it could be curtailed." Indeed, many of Curry's col-
leagues say that "only Jack Curry" could have pulled the university through the
struggles of the early 1990s. Despite his chagrin at having to make painful de-
cisions, Curry was dogged about his responsibilities, both during the layoffs
and beyond. "If you're going to play president, you have to be president," he
says. "Even though it was unpleasant, I was determined to do what had
to be done."

The trustees, impressed with the work of Curry and other top officials
in handling the troubles and planning for the future, extended the contracts
of both the president and the provost in 1991. Curry, in September 1991,
called the three-year contract given to Baer — the first-ever long-term contract
given to a university vice president — a "reflection of my high regard and the
trustees' high regard for Michael's work."^^ Curry was impressed with Baer's
leadership in harnessing the work of hundreds of faculty members in the cre-
ation of a new academic strategic plan; he also agreed 'with Baer that a three-
year contract would enhance long-term stability during what promised to be a
difficult period of economic constraints. And when Curry received a five-year
contract extension, the trustees' report said that the president was doing "an
excellent job in a very demanding environment."^^

As much as the layoffs had stung the Northeastern community, still
more pain was in store, because enrollments continued to rise and fall errati-
cally. The university would go on to balance its budget each year of Curry's
presidency, but only through further cuts, salary deferrals, on-and-off hiring
freezes, early retirements, faculty buyouts, and, most important, through a
sharp focus on generating new income.

During Curry's seven years as president, Northeastern's budget rose
slowly from $231.8 million in 1989-90 to $251.6 million in 1995-96. But
those limited additional budget dollars didn't provide the university with any
"extras"; in fact, the money was earmarked to cover essential increases in
financial aid, salaries, new technology, debt service, and tuition remission for

SURVIVING TOUCH TIMES

employees. "If you take out the raises, the change in debt service and tuition
remission, and financial aid, the budget during Jack's tenure was flat at best,"
says Samuel Solomon, a budget analyst during the Curry years who would go
on to become budget director. "In fact, you could describe it as a reduction."
Such financial constraints meant that officials had to be quite imaginative if
they wanted to provide new or reallocated monies for new initiatives.

Given the budget realities, saving money was all-important. And be-
cause all the layoffs had come from administrative areas, Curry looked mostly
to academic areas for cost savings in subsequent years. Over a three-year
period, from 1991 to 1994, Baer had to oversee $17 million in cuts in the
$123 million academic budgets, a nearly 14 percent reduction. ^^ While most
cuts came from faculty attrition and leaving positions unfilled, there were also
some program consolidations and eliminations.

The most significant change was the merging of two colleges, Boston-
Bouve College of Human Development Professions and the College of Phar-
macy and Allied Health Professions, in fall 1992. At the same time, three
Bouve programs — physical education, school and community health educa-
tion, and recreation management — were eliminated. A fourth program, the
graduate program in speech-language pathology and audiology, was proposed
to be abolished but was spared when the program's director and other faculty
members persuaded the Faculty Senate and the provost of the program's qual-
ity and value to the university. ^^ The merger and program eliminations saved
the university about $1.5 million over a four-year period.^^

In 1995, another merger brought the division of continuing education
under University College, to create a single adult education unit. At the time,
Baer said the move was made to update the form, content, and scope of North-
eastern's evening and continuing education programs during a time of more
single-family households, more dual-career families, suburban growth, and
around-the-clock workplaces.^'^

In cases where positions or programs were eliminated, some faculty
and academic administrators found new homes in different university posi-
tions, while others accepted buyouts of their tenure contracts or early retire-
ment packages. Daryl Hellman, who became executive vice provost in mid-
1991, guided this process. Hellman spent hours meeting with faculty members
considering leaving the university, as they talked about their careers and what
would make sense for them in the future. "Just about everybody I worked with
felt good about the deal we came up with," Hellman recalls. "They all felt they
had been treated fairly."

CHAPTER THREE

Says Curry, "Daryl and Michael were consistent in dealing with fac-
ulty, and that consistency and fairness helped us hold up morale during
difficult times."

Not all was bleak: even with the cutbacks, 27 new academic programs
were approved during the Curry era. In many cases, academic officials used
existing or reallocated resources to begin new ventures. Also, Curry made it a
priority to steer any available monies toward successful or new programs with
opportunities for growth.

In the colleges, deans tried to stave off declining enrollments by
improving student recruitment and retention and by introducing customer-
service training to their staffs. ^^ In some instances, faculty became more in-
volved in student recruitment; in others, programs were enhanced with the
aim of drawing more students. New programs were initiated, through reallo-
cation if necessary. Across Northeastern, attempts were made to give a big
university more of a small-college feel, to create a more comfortable environ-
ment for students. Moreover, across the board, colleges tightened not only
their budgets but also their admissions standards, with the rationale that
better-prepared students would be more successful in their college careers
and thus more likely to graduate.

The admissions department worked to bolster recruitment and reten-
tion by improving its communications wdth students. An Atlanta-based con-
sultant, Communicorp, was hired to interview hundreds of Northeastern stu-
dents, faculty, and staff, and to design a new series of admissions brochures
that more accurately and vibrantly reflected the benefits of a Northeastern
education. •^^

Still, deans, department heads, and faculty members struggled wdth
stringent budgets and the on-and-off hiring freezes.^'' Faculty members, in
particular, complained on many occasions that the university's policy of leav-
ing positions unfilled prevented academic units from strengthening crucial
programs. Complaints also arose, particularly from some arts and sciences
faculty members, that budget constraints were forcing too much reliance on
part-time instructors, although this view was not shared by all.-^^

Even during hiring freezes, some critical positions were filled. In
May 1990, Curry had charged two committees wdth reviewing hiring requests,
one for academic positions and one for administrative positions. When
hires were prohibited, deans, department heads, and administrative managers
handled the loss of personnel through reassignment, restructuring, redis-
tribution of tasks, or requiring that the position be filled by someone already

SURVIVING TOUGH TIMES

working at Northeastern so that the university's overall employee ranks
would not swell.

In the end, the university eliminated nearly 700 jobs — about a fifth of
its workforce — through layoffs, attrition, and contract buyouts. Between 1991
and 1994, as smaller classes worked their way through the university, enroll-
ments fell by 25 percent, from 13,788 to 10,370; Northeastem's faculty ranks
dropped 20 percent, from 937 to 751; its administrative ranks fell 25 percent,
from 992 to 749; and the size of its clerical staff was reduced by 30 percent,
from 905 to 636.2^

Salaries were a nagging issue during the Curry years. While pay hikes
continued for all faculty, administrators, and staff members, sometimes
budget constraints forced delays on the increases. The situation was particu-
larly problematic among faculty members, who argued correctly that their pay
was falling in comparison with the pay of professors at similar institutions.
The Faculty Senate voted on several occasions to have their pay increased and
worked closely wdth Curry in making their arguments. They also pushed for
"equity" payments, meant to redress unfairness in salaries ov^ng to gender,
race, or other biases, or to reduce inequities among departments and colleges
within Northeastern or between Northeastern and other institutions.

For his part, Curry felt that any pay raises must be fair across
the board; thus, while faculty members took the strongest stand on raises, the
pool available each year was the same for all employees, regardless of status or
rank. Staff members recognized and appreciated Curry's tenacity in keeping
raises fair. Says Sandra Lally, who served as vice chair of the Staff Council in
the early and mid-1990s, "It really did make us feel we were part of a team."
She adds that Curry actively sought input from the Staff Council on all the
tough budget issues facing the university. "He tried to give us the opportunity
to have some say, to actually participate," says Lally. "The council really bene-
fited from that."

Faculty tempers came to a boil in March 1994, just after Curry delayed
nearly $400,000 in faculty equity pay for a year. The Faculty Senate considered
a strongly worded resolution criticizing the administration's handling of sev-
eral key budget items, including the delay in equity pay.^° In the end, though,
the senate passed a milder resolution calling for more input into the univer-
sity's financial decisions. Sensing the merit of these concerns, Curry estab-
lished a new committee to work with top administrators on budget issues,
with faculty members as major players, giving them a stronger voice in fiscal
affairs than ever before. By January 1996, the Faculty Senate had mellowed in

CHAPTER THREE

its complaints about budget issues, to the point where its members themselves
voted to forgo raises for a year in exchange for an even larger role in mapping
out the university's budgetary future.^^

Says Curry, "Our faculty were extremely supportive as long as they
could see some signs of qualitative improvement. One year, they voted to for-
sake a salary raise in order for us to provide increased student financial aid and
dollars for our technology initiatives."

As if the layoffs, hiring freezes, and salary deferrals in the early part
of Curry's presidency weren't bad enough, the university was stung by a series
of midyear budget cuts during the latter half of his tenure caused by continu-
ing enrollment fluctuations, particularly in graduate and part-time programs.

The first cut was announced in fall 1994, when Curry ordered an
across-the-board 2.5 percent budget reduction to save $4.5 million, to offset
lagging enrollments in graduate programs and in University College. In spring
1995, with a $2 million shortfall predicted from lower-than-expected spring en-
rollments, Curry placed another temporary freeze on hiring and capital ex-
penditures. The following November, the hiring freeze was lifted, but another
$4.3 million shortfall was predicted because of a drop in upperclass retention
and continuing education enrollments. At that time, Curry ordered managers
to set aside 2 percent of their budgets to cover the gap.

Frustration over the midyear budget cuts escalated. After the third
cut, one department head called the budget reductions "some new kind of
torture, known as death by a thousand cuts." Another likened the cuts to "a
wound that keeps opening up again and again, and eventually you're going to
bleed to death." But others understood the necessity of further measures. As
Glenn Pierce, then-director of academic computing, put it at the time, "This
is part of a general problem higher education is having." ^^ Curry concurred.
"This process of continual readjustment, reevaluation, reallocation, and re-
grouping is a fact of Hfe in the 1990s for corporations as well as for higher-
education institutions," he said. "And, disconcerting though it is, it's all part of
our strategy of reinventing Northeastern as a smaller, better university.""

At the same time that Curry and other senior officials were managing
year after year of tight budgets, they also realized that a longer-term solution
to the problem was needed. They began to talk about an overall "restructuring"
of the university's budget. By February 1996, just six months from the end of
his tenure, Curry set up a university-wide panel to examine the budget with
the goal of eliminating recurring imbalances. He also proposed a 1996-97
budget about $3 million short of what he had hoped for, saying that he felt it

SURVIVING TOUGH TIMES

was his responsibility to continue making difficult budget decisions, in spite
of the fact that he had only a few months left as president. "It would be wrong
to say, 'Hey, I'll just leave this restructuring plan to the new president,' " he told
the Voice. ^-^

While Northeastem's budget was kept in check mostly by cutting ex-
penditures, a strong emphasis also prevailed on reexamining its capital struc-
ture, its facilities, and its contracts with an eye toward cost-savings in these big-
ticket items. Treasurer Culver, business vice president Martin, and assistant
treasurer Joseph Murphy made major changes in these areas that saved the
university tens of millions of dollars.

Taking advantage of low interest rates during the economic slump.
Culver refinanced the university's debt and rolled it into a bond issue that gen-
erated $33 milhon in new capital without increasing the debt service.^^ The
refinancing helped Northeastern pay for high-cost projects including a science
and engineering research center, a new classroom building, a recreation cen-
ter, and the creation of a campus computer network.

The team also scoured the university's budget from top to bottom
looking for ways to produce additional revenue. For example, the complete
renovation of the student center in 1993 and 1994 was financed by a fee that
students themselves approved, and a food court was incorporated into the
building so that more food revenue would flow into the university, instead of
into pizza parlors along Huntington Avenue.

All the university's contiacts were put out to bid, saving hundreds
of thousands of dollars. Group contracts were negotiated for office supplies,
delivery services, tiavel, and temporary help.^^ Functions that had traditionally
been handled in-house, such as painting and printing services, were priva-
tized. A managed health care program was established at the Lane Health
Center. The university's off-campus conference facilities, Henderson House
and the Warren Center, began to be aggressively marketed to outside groups
to generate income, as was Matthews Arena. An energy-conservation program
was established and generated substantial cost savings. Also, Culver and his
colleagues discontinued disadvantageous leases, bringing all Northeastern op-
erations into rehabbed or vacant space on campus.

Officials also undertook some hard bargaining with health care pro-
viders to keep costs in check for both the university and its employees.^'' And,

CHAPTER THREE

according to Murphy, some of the university's health care and workers' com-
pensation programs became self-insured, saving several million dollars.

In spite of the overall budget difficulties, the university enjoyed un-
precedented endov^TTient growth during the Curry years, thanks in part to able
management by Murphy and the Board of Trustees' subcommittee on endow-
ment. When Curry took office in 1989 the endowment stood at about $150 mil-
lion; by 1996, a soaring stock market and record-breaking fund-raising suc-
cess, particularly from 1992 on, had rocketed the fund to $280 million, an
87 percent increase. ^^

University financial officers touted the news of the endowment's
growth, prompting faculty members to ask if some of the endowment earn-
ings might not be better used to ease the crunch in the annual budget. ^^ But
officials said that the university already dedicated about 5 percent of the en-
dowment's market value to the budget each year, based on predicted long-term
growth of 10 to 11 percent a year. And they cautioned that it would be unwise
to dip any further into investments, even to relieve the deep pain caused by
budget restrictions, because it could hamper future earnings. The board did,
however, agree to provide a loan for administrative initiatives such as faculty
buyouts and technology.

In ortheastern's effort to combat its budget problems, a combination
of stringent budgeting and creative revenue-generating, helped steady the uni-
versity through some very rocky years. And that effort did not go unnoticed.
Articles about Northeastern's successful downsizing appeared in the Wall
Street Journal, Fortune, Financial World, CIO Magazine, the Chronicle of Higher
Education, the Boston Globe, and other local and national periodicals. The
October 10, 1994, Wall Street Journal article, "A Big University Shapes Up by
Downsizing," credited Northeastern with "accepting its limitations in a way
few colleges ever have — trimming majors, combining colleges, and resisting
the urge to fill every dormitory bed with a warm body." The article quoted
Robin Jenkins of the National Association of College and University Business
Officers (NACUBO) as saying that Northeastern "did a lot of things that really
were just plain good management and that a lot of other institutions can em-
ulate." NACUBO, in fact, gave Northeastern an award in July 1993 for finding
effective, innovative ways to save money.'**'

A couple of weeks later, on October 26, another article about North-
eastern appeared in the Chronicle of Higher Education, describing Northeast-

SURVIVING TOUGH TIMES

ern's battle to better itself despite severe budget restrictions. Curry told the
Chronicle: "We had been heading in the wrong direction, v\dth no strategic plan
at all. But now we're on the right road."

The Chronicle noted that part of Northeastem's success in downsizing
could be credited to the openness with which cuts were handled. Indeed,
Curry and other senior officials spoke frankly and often of the budget prob-
lems. Memos were sent to the university community informing them of ma-

President Curry made it a point to communicate openly about Northeastem's downsizing. Here, he
speaks at a Faculty Senate meeting. Also pictured are Arvin Grabel (center), professor of electrical
and computer engineering and three-time Senate Agenda Committee chair, and provost Baer.

jor changes. The Northeastern Voice and the alumni magazine carried regular
updates about budget issues. And it wasn't only the messages of top officials
that were aired; it was also the opinions of faculty and staff, whose comments,
both positive and negative, appeared frequently in administration-funded pub-
lications, so that open debate became a hallmark of the Curry administration
as the university sought to deal candidly — and, it was hoped, therefore, more
effectively — with the financial downsizing.

Writing in the May/ June 1995 issue of Trusteeship, trustee chair
Matthews and Curry spoke of the importance of open communication in
dealing with the downsizing. "We realized that collegiality, communication,
and candor were essential to success," they wrote, "especially in a university

CHAPTER THREE

culture, which rightly places a high value on above-board dealings, freewheel-
ing debate, and no-holds-barred disagreements.'"*^

Baer concurs. "We felt that the more open we were, the more we could
involve the campus community — particularly the faculty — when it came to
academic decisions, the more acceptance the changes would have." He adds
that, while there were certainly pockets of faculty members who weren't happy
with delayed raises and other budget issues, morale was for the most part

Treasurer Robert Culver (center) and provost Michael Baer (right) met frequently with faculty and
staff to inform them about budget issues.

good. "I think faculty felt good about the move toward quality," says Baer. "I
think they were willing to accept that there had to be sacrifices in order for that
to happen."

One faculty member, speaking at a presentation on budget issues
by Baer and Culver in February 1993, praised the administration for keep-
ing the budget balanced and for weathering the financial storm that had
swept higher education for several years. "I don't necessarily see the end," said
civil engineering chair Mishac Yegian, "but we're sailing through stormy
weather and I think we have a good handle on things." Culver responded,
"If you were to have the ability to see Northeastern from the outside world,
you would know . . . that we have become marked for our perseverance, for
our v^sdom, and for our commitment to the true purposes of an educa-
tional institution."

SURVIVING TOUGH TIMES

The true purpose of an educational institution, of course, is to provide
quality instruction in an environment conducive to learning. Despite tremen-
dous financial constraints, the period from 1989 to 1996 turned out to be sur-
prisingly fruitful for Northeastern. Grand new buildings were erected; more
than two dozen new academic programs were introduced; the campus land-
scape was further softened v^th new quads, brick pathways lined with green-
ery, and outdoor art; academic quality was significantly upgraded; up-to-date
computer networks were created; student-friendliness assumed top priority;
and fundraising brought in unprecedented millions.

Says Curry, "I felt extremely proud that while we were going through
all this, we didn't put our heads in the sand, but we made significant improve-
ments. I thought that a lot of those forward signs of progress kept up morale
and helped alleviate the pain at a time when the budgets were disconcerting
for so many people."

Ironically, Curry thinks that the budget troubles actually helped
Northeastern improve in ways it may not have if money had been more plen-
tiful. "Always there's a light to the ugliness," he says. "From my point of view,
I had a ticket to move away from the expansionist, bigger-is-better philosophy
that had permeated Northeastern for years. We had been adrift trying to be all
things to all people. The financial trouble forced us into the discipline of cut-
ting, into deciding what we could do better. It was a good opportunity to
reshape the university."

Sociology professor Jack Levin, widely known and respected for his expertise on violence in Amer-
ican society, speaks to a class at Northeastern.

CHAPTER FOUR

Placing Academics First

If there was one accomplishment Jack Curry wanted more
than any other, it was to reshape and strengthen Northeastern's academic pro-
gram. Again and again, to colleagues and to the larger university community,
Curry spoke of the importance of making Northeastern "smaller but better."
He knew that the university's academic quality had been diluted as admis-
sions standards had weakened through the 1980s. And although some faculty
members expressed deep concern about Curry's presidency because they con-
sidered him more of an administrator than an academician, Curry was dogged
about fashioning a better university. In his first major speech to the university
community, in September 1989, Curry said that he sensed "the deeply felt
belief that there has arisen in the university an atmosphere antithetical to aca-
demic advancement." But he pledged that he would "move decisively to
change the sense that administration is first and academics second at North-
eastern University."

In his seven years as president, Curry kept his word. On his watch,
average SAT scores of entering freshmen leapt dramatically, from 889 to 953,
a 64-point increase between 1989 and 1995, and to 1055 in fall 1996, when
SAT scores were recentered by the College Board. ^ Total applications, which
dropped from 11,339 to 9,119 during the first two years of Curry's presidency,
bounced back to 12,799 by fall 1996, just after Curry stepped down.^ Student
retention between the freshman and sophomore year increased from 67 per-
cent in 1989 to 78 percent by fall 1996,^ a gain that former enrollment man-
agement vice provost Jean Eddy calls "unheard of" because increasing reten-
tion by even 5 percentage points typically takes a decade. Research funding
rose from $19 million in 1989-90 to $32 milHon in 1996 -97,^^ and the num-
bers of faculty members involved in sponsored research climbed to one in
every four during the same period. Two important new academic facilities

CHAPTER FOUR

were built: a topflight science and engineering research center and a class-
room building boasting state-of-the-art technology. A new campus-wide com-
puter network facilitated faculty research and communication, and improved
the learning environment for students. Laboratories and classrooms were ren-
ovated; academic equipment was upgraded; and new monies were set aside to
increase collections at the university's new Snell Library and strong efforts
were made to heighten the facility's use. Twenty-seven new degree pro-
grams were approved. Administrators worked to support and improve teach-
ing and to recognize and reward teaching excellence. New academic initiatives
were funded, with an emphasis on interdisciplinary approaches. Nationally
renowned senior professors and promising junior professors were hired, and
endowed chairs and professorships were created to support their work; and an
innovative university-wide core curriculum was put in place for undergradu-
ates. Significantly, the long list of improvements occurred at a time when the
university reduced the number of faculty and staff by roughly 20 percent.

All the effort to strengthen quality brought outside recognition to
Northeastern, from prestigious indicators of academic excellence such as
Barron's Profiles of American Colleges and the "Carnegie Classifications," which
categorize and rate institutions across the country. And Curry's own efforts
were widely lauded. For example, former Boston University president John
Silber wrote Curry a congratulatory letter at the time he stepped down, citing
Curry's success in achieving "a financial and academic turnaround in an in-
credibly few number of years." ^

"The quality of the students improved dramatically, and the attitude of
the faculty toward the students changed positively as the student body changed
positively," recalls former provost Michael Baer. "The faculty gained greater
self-confidence about their work, their research, and their instruction because
they felt there was an administration that really cared to promote the univer-
sity as an academic institution. And certainly over the latter half of Jack's ten-
ure, there was a feeling of working together as one institution, rather than as a
group of autonomous colleges and programs, which meant that the coopera-
tion across units bolstered the forward academic movement of all of the units."

Much of the cooperation that Baer cites was sparked by a university-
wide effort, begun in spring 1992, to create a new academic strategic plan
for Northeastern. Spearheaded by Baer and Curry, the plan did something that
no other strategic plan had ever done before at the university: it brought
people together. As executive vice president, Curry had overseen a strategic
planning effort in 1987 that addressed academics as well as all other aspects of
the university. That plan was pulled together by three of Curry's special assis-
tants— Charles Coffin, Frank Farinella, and Arthur Smith — with input from

PLACING ACADEMICS FIRST

key individuals throughout the university. This new plan, however, aimed to
draw on the expertise of many more people. With the help of an outside con-
sultant, the university assembled 18 task forces to address a host of academic
issues. The task forces included more than 200 faculty members, administra-
tors, and students. Curry calls the strategic planning process one of the most
significant events of his presidency.

"It was a morale builder and a guidepost for the future," he says. "And
the beauty of the plan was the involvement of so many faculty members."

Adds John Cipolla, who chaired the strategic planning steering com-
mittee, "Although the layoffs and the budget cuts had a dampening effect, the
enthusiasm of planning took over. Strategic planning mobilized people to
think positively about the future when the present was fairly grim."

Of the 18 task forces, 11 studied strategic issues ranging from under-
graduate life to research to university governance.'' Another 8 focused on the
priorities of each of the colleges and the law school. The idea was that the
theme-driven task forces and the college task forces would form a planning
matrix in which issues could be discussed from different perspectives.

As strategic planning got under way in fall 1992, those involved were
alternately overwhelmed, suspicious, and energized. Faculty members who
found themselves spending hours in committee meetings or working on re-
ports complained about the heavy time commitment that strategic planning
required. Some argued that it didn't make sense to do strategic planning while
budget-cutting was already in progress, that the planning should have come
before the budget-cutting. "It would have been better to do it the other way
around," Baer concedes, "but it didn't work out that way."

Others wondered aloud how much input faculty would actually have
into the plan.^ Baer found it necessary to meet with faculty members to assure
them the plan wasn't a done deal and to assuage their concerns by agreeing to
hold a faculty-wide vote on the final plan.^

By May 1993, after thousands of hours of information-gathering, de-
bating, and synthesizing by hundreds of faculty and staff members, the task
forces turned in their reports, averaging 40 pages each, to the steering com-
mittee. The steering committee worked over the summer to cull information
from the reports, completing an initial draft by September and a final plan the
following month.

Major recommendations involved enhancing Northeastern's intellec-
tual community and promoting a more student-centered campus — two goals
to which Curry was already deeply committed.^ Another was to offer faculty
more encouragement and rewards for teaching and advising. Other recom-
mendations called for integrating co-op more closely with classroom learning;

CHAPTER FOUR

focusing research and graduate education; creating powerful communication
and data systems for education, research, and administration; continuing the
commitment to access and diversity; and strengthening outreach to the world
beyond the Northeastern campus.

Not everyone was pleased v^th the final plan. Some deemed it too
general, noting that several crucial questions — such as which colleges should
be merged or which doctoral programs should be kept — were not addressed
in the plan, or even in the task force reports. There was talk that those involved
in strategic planning avoided such issues because they feared that a contro-
versial plan wouldn't be approved by the faculty. ^° On the other hand, Baer says
he didn't expect the plan to address major questions such as mergers or po-
tential program cuts. He and treasurer Robert Culver met with individual col-
lege faculties during the early 1990s to discuss such issues. Curry praises both
men's effectiveness in working closely with faculty on subjects ranging from
academics to the budget to the university's overall mission.

Much praise for the strategic plan came for its recommendation that
Northeastern strengthen its intellectual and social community, and for bring-
ing together hundreds of faculty and staff members from all corners of
the university. ^^

"A lot of things were laid on the table and a lot of people learned a lot
of things about the university," says English professor Mary Loeffelholz, who
cochaired one of the task forces and later served on the strategic planning
steering committee. "In a university that wasn't very used to sharing informa-
tion, talking about strategic areas across units was very important."

JVlany of the advances in the academic area that occurred between
1989 and 1996 came about because Curry made the provost a strong second-
in-command. "Jack made it clear the provost would be the number-two position,
that the academic area was the key part of the university," Baer says. Curry put
Baer in charge of several critical areas, including student affairs, the libraries,
the registrar's office, financial aid, and — most important — admissions.

Baer moved quickly to improve Northeastem's academic reputation
by implementing the new "smaller but better" enrollment strategy that Curry
had outlined in his opening speech for the 1990-91 school year.'^ Baer estab-
lished an office of enrollment management, encompassing admissions and
financial aid, that would work closely with other key departments such as stu-
dent housing and student activities. With Peter Stace as vice provost of the new
enrollment management area, the university introduced profound changes in
how prospective students were targeted, how student communications were

PLACING ACADEMICS FIRST

handled, how the admissions process proceeded, how financial aid was dis-
tributed, and how students were treated when they arrived on campus.

"Peter really organized the place," says Baer. "He developed new
financial aid formulas and financial aid strategies. The second year he was
here, he sent direct mail to 250,000 prospective students who wouldn't have
received it before. Those things are what turned us around."

For example. Northeastern had traditionally drawn the bulk of its stu-
dents from Massachusetts, with most of the rest coming from the other New
England states. But during the Curry era, members of the enrollment man-
agement team sought to attract greater numbers of students from outside
Massachusetts, particularly from New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, as
well as from the Southeast and the Pacific Coast. At the beginning of Curry's
presidency, 55 percent of freshmen came from Massachusetts;^^ by fall 1996,
that figure had dropped to 47 percent. ^"^ Additional funds were also directed
toward recruiting greater numbers of international students.

Eddy notes that Northeastern had to make a significant financial
investment to successfully recruit students from outside Massachusetts. Be-
cause applicants to the university typically came from middle-class families
with modest incomes, and because living farther away from Northeastern
significantly impacted a family's ability to pay college costs — students from
those families had no choice but to live on campus — the university boosted
and targeted financial aid specifically for such students. Northeastern's under-
graduate financial aid budget more than doubled between 1991 and 1996, from
$15 million to nearly $36 million.^^

The university also invested heavily in communications with prospec-
tive students. Glossy new brochures, developed and designed by the Atlanta-
based consulting firm Communicorp, proclaimed to students: "Learn even
more. By doing."^^ The new publications, based on the recommendations of
student focus groups, painted a picture of a dynamic college environment
where ambitious students could realize their academic potential. Letters to pro-
spective students were rewritten to sound more inviting and less businesslike.

Perhaps most important, the university for the first time pushed hard
to attract brighter students to apply, using financial aid as an incentive. This
move epitomized Northeastern's efforts to become "smaller but better"; there
would indeed be fewer students, but those who attended would be better pre-
pared for college study In fall 1992, for instance. Northeastern began offering
full-tuition scholarships to the more than 350 Massachusetts National Merit
Semifinalists, the state's brightest high school seniors. ^^ The financial aid
strategy worked. About 170 of these students appHed to Northeastern ^^ —
many more than expected — and about 50 enrolled. ^^ In the past, only a hand-
ful of National Merit SemifinaHsts had enrolled at Northeastern.

CHAPTER FOUR

In the effort to matriculate brighter students, the university also made
changes in its scholarship programs. Academic merit was more strongly con-
sidered in awarding scholarships to students from Boston and outlying com-
munities. The Carl S. Ell scholarship program was expanded by about 50 per-
cent, and both the Ell scholarships and the Ralph J. Bunche scholarships were
increased to cover full tuition, room, and board costs. Previously, the programs
had awarded full tuition only in the freshman year, half-tuition in the upper-
class years, and no room and board. In addition, the new full-tuition Reggie
Lewis scholarships were created for designated groups of people of color, in
memory of Northeastern's best-ever athlete, who died in 1993.

At the same time the university sought to enlist brighter students, it
also sought to limit the numbers of those who were less prepared for the rig-
ors of college. Officials paid particular attention to the Alternative Freshman
Year program, a developmental program that had grown rapidly through the
1980s. Enrollments in the program, which by fall 1989 had reached 651, or
17 percent of the freshman class, were deliberately lowered to 381 by fall 1996.

Northeastern's push to recruit and retain brighter students led to sig-
nificant growth in the university's honors program.^^ Begun with 25 students
in 1986, the program served about 150 at the start of Curry's tenure; by the last
year of his presidency, the program had grown eightfold to serve 1,250 stu-
dents, supported in part by scholarship funds set aside by Curry. ^' The pro-
gram offered more than 60 honors courses per term, thesis opportunities, and
even a residence hall set aside for honors students.

As vital as attracting brighter students was keeping them. Conse-
quently, faculty and staff were encouraged to develop more of a customer serv-
ice attitude toward students. In October 1991, Curry urged employees to make
Northeastern "a little bit like Disneyland" and said he would set up regular re-
views of key administrative offices that dealt mosdy with students, such as the
library, the registrar's office, and the bursar's office.^^ Several months later, in
January 1992, the university offered a customer service training program to
employees of several offices that dealt directly or by phone with large numbers
of students.^^

IVluch of the work of strengthening academics at Northeastern dur-
ing Curry's tenure emerged from a group called the academic priorities com-
mittee, first chaired by mathematics professor Margaret Cozzens and later by
mechanical engineering professor CipoUa. Baer established the committee in
1990, shortly after his arrival, partly because he thought it would be important
to closely involve faculty members in academic decisions during tight fiscal

PLACING ACADEMICS FIRST

times. He also felt, in general, that seeking broad input was the best way to
achieve positive change.

The academic priorities committee acted on a number of fronts. It so-
licited consolidation plans from all over campus and made recommendations,
based on those plans, on how the university should downsize its academic op-
erations. Those recommendations eventually led the Faculty Senate and the
Board of Trustees to approve the merger of Boston-Bouve College of Human
Development Professions and the College of Pharmacy and Allied Health Pro-
fessions, and also to cut several Bouve programs.

The priorities committee also advised Baer, during a time of down-
sizing and hiring freezes, on which academic positions were critical enough to
fill. (A separate committee, called the position review committee, was set up
to evaluate the criticality of administrative positions.)

The committee also suggested to Baer that, if Northeastern's direction
was toward "smaller but better," the university needed to realize some of the
"better" as soon as possible. To further this goal, the group recommended set-
ting aside some money to pay for new and innovative programs. Thus was
born, in spring 1991, a special "strategic initiatives fund."^'^ Faculty, depart-
ments, and colleges were encouraged to propose new programs or initiatives
for funding.

"From the very first," says Baer, "when we began to cut the budget, we
put aside a sum of money that was used to solicit innovative plans from fac-
ulty and from colleges, and we funded them. In the very first years of the
biggest cuts, there was money put into new programs, and into thinking about
new programs."

From the very beginning, Curry had insisted that even as budgets
were cut and programs were eliminated, the university needed to spend on
new initiatives or it would lose its vitality. So it is not surprising that Curry
would view as a signal accomplishment of his presidency the creation of
27 new academic programs, in spite of financial constraints. His pride in that
achievement came through again and again in speeches to the university com-
munity, to the governing boards, and to groups outside Northeastern.

Some of the new programs, says Baer, were self-funding or brought
new revenues to the university, such as the master's in anesthesiology in nurs-
ing or the minor in Latino, La tin- American, and Caribbean studies. Others
were aimed at meeting a specific market need, such as the doctorate in phar-
macy. Still others were approved because Curry thought it was important to
support programs that would enhance the university's intellectual environ-
ment. So, for example, a doctoral program in world history that was initially
put on hold amid financial concerns was later approved, after Curry was satis-
fied that the College of Arts and Sciences would set aside sufficient funding.^^

CHAPTER FOUR

"At a time of severe budget cuts and personnel reduction," says Curry,
"I believed it was important to show a willingness to invest in our future to
support new quality programs that could either generate income in the future
or enhance our academic reputation."

In addition to promoting new programs, Curry sought to boost re-
search and scholarship. The most visible move in this direction was the con-
struction of a new science and engineering research center, funded by a large
gift from trustee Richard Egan and his wife Maureen and by a $15 million
grant from the federal government. The $30 million building, completed in
1996, provided state-of-the-art research space for faculty and students in engi-
neering, physics, chemistry, and computer science. Ronald Hedlund, who be-
came Northeastern's vice provost for research and graduate education in Au-
gust 1996, called the Egan Center "a testimony to the quality of the faculty and
staff involved in the research enterprise." ^*^

Another important boost to campus research came from Curry's de-
cision to start returning research overhead funds to researchers, their depart-
ments, and their colleges. These funds came to the university as part of most
federal research grants to pay for heating, lighting, supplies, and other over-
head costs. In the past, that money had been absorbed into the university's
central budget without any visible impact on the researchers or departments
responsible for winning the grants. But Curry felt that returning the money to
those who brought in the grants would help recognize their contributions,
spur future research, and replace some of the funds departments had lost to
budget cuts. In its first two years, the program generated more than $800,000
in new funding for faculty members, departments, and deans. In 1991, its third
year, the amount rose to $1 million, ^^ and peaked at $1.5 million in 1995.^^

"It was important to encourage departments and research scholars by
recognizing, through a financial reward, that they had brought money into the
university," says Baer. "Those funds gave the departments some flexibility at
a time when we were taking flexibility away from the budgets and gave them a
chance to reinvest and achieve things that otherwise couldn't be achieved."

The policy boosted morale, says Cipolla, who saw many benefits in
his own mechanical engineering department. Establishing the policy "had
symbolic meaning for many departments," he says, "because it showed
that the university was committed to regularly supporting the research mis-
sion with monies that came in for research support. It was money that could
have been used to pay general university bills, so it was a gutsy move for Jack
to have made."

PLACING ACADEMICS FIRST

Overall, outside research funding rose from $19 million in 1989-90
to $32 million in 1996-97.^^ Roughly two-thirds of these monies went to re-
searchers in the colleges of engineering and arts and sciences. Baer attributes
the continuing rise of research funding in the latter half of the 1990s to activi-
ties that were begun during Curry's tenure. "All of the growth that occurred in
the two years following Jack's retirement was nurtured through his presi-
dency," he says.

But more important than the money,
Baer says, is that faculty members began to feel
more valued for their research. "The percep-
tion was that during Jack's tenure the university
was moving from a teaching institution that had
pockets of research to a research institution that
also valued instruction," he says.

"I feel the university made a bigger
commitment to research when Jack was presi-
dent," says physicist Stephen Reucroft, a world-
renowned researcher who brings millions in
outside funding to the university each year. "I
had the feeling that things were taking off. Jack
believed that Northeastern should become a
research university, and he put a lot into it."

Two prime examples of research excel-
lence during the Curry presidency are the Bar-
nett Institute of Chemical Analysis and Materials
Science, the university's most well-known, best-
respected, longest-lasting, and most lucrative
research center, and the Center for Electromag-
netics Research.

The Bamett group, led by Barry Karger,
celebrated its twentieth anniversary in 1993 and
boasts an international reputation for its con-
tributions to the fields of analytical chemistry,
biotechnology, and advanced materials research.
Moreover, the center generated millions of dol-
lars in research grants and endowment funds

during the Curry years. One outside observer, Robert Stevenson of American
Laboratory magazine (which devoted an entire issue in spring 1997 to Bamett),
told Northeastern University Magazine in 1998 that the institute was "probably
the most productive of the analytical institutes in North America, in terms of
its impact on separation science." ^"

Barry Karger, director of the
Bamett Institute of Chemical
Analysis and Materials Science

Michael Silevitch, director of
the Center for Electromagnetics
Research

CHAPTER FOUR

The Center for Electromagnetics Research, estabHshed in 1984 by elec-
trical engineering professor Michael Silevitch, himself a Northeastern gradu-
ate, also attracted significant outside funding for research in such fields as
ground-penetrating radar, mine detection, electro-optics, plasmas, bioelectro-
magnetics, and other areas integral to the electronics and aerospace industries.

Another boost to excellence, both in research and in teaching, came
from the university's effort to lure renowned researchers as well as topnotch
junior faculty members to work at Northeastern.

"We brought in some very high-quality faculty," says Baer. "I think
that the real growth in the strength of the faculty was at the junior level,
though. The reputation of the faculty was growing to the point where it be-
came easier and easier to attract high-quality junior faculty."

The university also attracted larger numbers of minority faculty
members to its ranks with the help of a special fund for the recruitment and
retention of minorities, overseen by executive vice provost Daryl Hellman. The
fiand, which provided money for advertising, recruiting, salaries, and research
support, helped increase the number of African-American and Hispanic fac-
ulty members from 29 to 49 — a 40 percent increase — between 1990 and
1996." "A lot of money was put into that when we were cutting budgets," says
Hellman. "Jack talked about it all the time. He kept it on the radar screen."

For longtime faculty members with outstanding records of research
and scholarship, the university instituted a new and important form of recog-
nition, coupled with financial rewards, with the establishment of the Matthews
Distinguished University Professorships. ^^ Funded in 1993 by trustee chair
George Matthews and his wife, Kathleen Waters Matthews, and their friends,
the new professorships guaranteed research funding throughout the recipi-
ents' careers. Although the university had appointed distinguished professors
every year since 1979, this was the first time that funding had not been limited
to two years.

"We felt it was important to provide for all the expenses for research
for the distinguished professors," says Matthews. "I'd been on the Board of
Trustees since 1972 and I knew Northeastern suffered from an inferiority
complex. We wanted to change all that, to show that we would support a qual-
ity faculty."

The Matthews initiative also generated money for students working
on junior or senior honors projects and funded an annual breakfast at which
students presented and discussed their work publicly Significantly, Matthews
professors were appreciated for more than just their research and scholarship;
Curry and Matthews made a practice of meeting regularly with them to solicit
their opinions about the university's academic health and their advice on a
wide range of other issues.

PLACING ACADEMICS FIRST

Another testament to the university's commitment to academic
quaHty was its sustained support for Northeastern University Press, an in-
house pubHshing group that has produced topflight scholarly works by
professors at Northeastern and from across the nation. Established in 1977,
the press carved out strong niches for itself in criminal justice, American
history, and women's studies, with its sales growing steadily to a peak of
$1.47 million in 1995-96."

^ 1^

Trustee chair George Matthews and President Curry met frequently with Matthews Distinguished
University Professors to solicit their opinions about Northeastern's academic health. From left:
sociology's Debra Kaufman, the law school's Michael Meltsner, Provost Baer, biology's Phyllis
Strauss, and Matthews.

The dedication of Snell Library in fall 1990 — just over a year into
Curry's presidency — was both a real and prophetic moment in Northeastern's
academic revitalization. Planned during Kenneth Ryder's administration and
funded with the help of a substantial government grant and a naming gift
from alumnus George Snell, the $34 million library became Northeastern's ac-
ademic focal point, overlooking a newly created open space in the campus's
center with pathways of swirling brick framed by trees, bushes, and flowers.

With the opening of Snell, the library took a giant leap forward, says
dean Alan Benenfeld, who had come to Northeastern in the mid-1980s partly
because of the university's commitment to building a new library. Snell Li-
brary provided not only topnotch space for study and research, but good serv-
ice and an up-to-date computerized catalog and circulation system that greatly

CHAPTER FOUR

improved access to materials. And, although the library was hit with staff
losses because of the layoffs and budget cuts, Curry insisted on steady funding
increases for books and other research materials during the early 1990s as a
key component of a "better" Northeastern. Between 1989 and 1996, the size of
the collections tripled and library use skyrocketed, unprecedented growth that
Benenfeld calls "phenomenal."

There were other changes as well. Most campus media services were
consolidated in Snell Library when the new building opened. Also, new tech-
nology brought the ability to broadcast visual materials from a central location
in Snell to other parts of the building; such technology would make it possible,
in the latter half of the 1990s, for audiovisual materials to be broadcast to other
campus buildings, resulting in less need for physical transport. The new facil-
ity also provided much-needed space for meetings and seminars. Most im-
portant, hours for faculty and student use were greatly expanded.

In addition, the library for the first time moved to formalize its
archives and special collections programs in the early 1990s. In 1994, the uni-
versity hired its first full-time archivist, Joan Krizack, who set about organizing
and cataloguing the archives. Krizack helped Northeastern acquire an impor-
tant special collection in 1995: the papers of Freedom House, an organization
founded in 1949 to preserve and upgrade the Roxbury community, and which
possessed a wealth of materials documenting Boston's black history.^"*

Benenfeld points out that the decision to develop special collections
helped bring new distinction to the university, and was a move that would be-
gin to draw outside scholars to conduct research on campus. "This is the stuff
that begins to put you on a larger intellectual map," he says.

In addition to supporting academics through a much-enhanced li-
brary, the university also sharpened its focus on teaching. In a fall 1995 speech
to the university community, Baer reiterated the importance of having faculty
concentrate on student-centeredness and the teaching and learning process —
areas that were increasingly commanding student, parental, and public con-
cern.^5 He said faculty workloads should be flexible and that professors should
be appropriately compensated for their contributions, whether in research,
teaching, advising, or service. Such goals had been strongly urged by the stra-
tegic planning committee's task force on faculty roles and responsibilities.

One form of support for teaching emerged with the creation of the
Office for the Support of Effective Teaching, later renamed the Center for
Effective University Teaching.^'' Established in fall 1989 by interim provost
Robert Lowndes and led by philosophy professor Stephen Nathanson, the cen-
ter helped faculty hone their classroom skills, offered workshops and infor-
mation on teaching and learning, assisted professors in developing teaching
portfolios, and oversaw course and teacher evaluations. These evaluations

PLACING ACADEMICS FIRST

were also strengthened and refined during the Curry era through the com-
bined efforts of the Faculty Senate and the Student Government Association.
In fall 1994, Northeastern hosted a pair of roundtable forums on
teaching as part of a program, funded by the Pew Charitable Trust, aimed at
developing new approaches to undergraduate teaching. The university also be-
gan increasingly to tie tenure decisions to quality teaching; boosted university

The new classroom building featured state-of-the-art media labs.

grants for teaching improvements; sent faculty to conferences on teaching;
and hired teaching consultants to work wdth deans and department chairs.

Another benefit for teaching came in the form of new and renovated
facilities that improved the learning environment. A modem new $8 million
classroom building was completed in 1995, featuring innovative media labs
as well as state-of-the-art media connections that enabled faculty and students
to access resources at Northeastern's library and beyond.^^ Dodge Hall, com-
pletely renovated for use by the College of Business Administration, boasted
tiered classrooms with computer outlets at every seat. And laboratories across
campus were upgraded.

Intertwined with the heightened emphasis on teaching was the uni-
versity's implementation of a new general education model for the entire in-
stitution, called the Academic Common Experience (ACE), which was funded
by the National Science Foundation and the Department of Education's Fund
for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education.^^ ACE was designed as part

CHAPTER FOUR

of the strategic plan in 1992-93, shepherded in large part by Andrea Leskes,
vice provost for undergraduate education, and approved by the Faculty Senate
in 1995. The new initiative outlined broad educational outcomes focusing
on effective thinking, communication, and interpersonal skills; information
literacy; knowledge of the natural and social-cultural world; ability to view
the world from historical, ethical, aesthetic, and personal perspectives; and
ability to make connections across disciplines, between theory and applica-
tion, between college and the world of work, and between college study and
lifelong learning. These goals, embedded in all undergraduate courses, came
to serve as a flexible sort of core curriculum suited to Northeastern's unique ac-
ademic structure.

i hat Northeastern's aspiration to academic excellence was in large
measure fulfilled is manifested by the achievements of its faculty and students
and by the testimony of voices beyond Huntington Avenue.

Northeastern moved into the upper echelons of research universities
nationwide when it was listed as a "research university 11" in the 1994 edition
of the "Carnegie Classifications," which groups accredited institutions into
11 categories based on factors such as an institution's size, the level of degrees
and specialization it offers, its educational mission, the number of doctoral de-
grees it awards, and the amount of federal research funding it receives. ^^ The
new classification was a two-grade jump for Northeastern, a feat a Carnegie
official called "noteworthy." Being cited as a "research university 11" meant
that Northeastern was ranked among the top 4 percent of the nation's 3,600 col-
leges and universities. Richard Rasala, a computer science professor, told the
Northeastern Voice at the time that the new rating "certainly adds to our repu-
tation and prestige."

In 1989, Barron's Profiles of American Colleges, the leading sourcebook
on college information, revised its evaluation of Northeastern and placed the
university among the top 21 percent of all bachelors' degree -granting institu-
tions, moving it from a "less competitive" to a "competitive plus" institution.'*''

There were individual stars as well. For example, in 1991, psychol-
ogy's Harlan Lane became the first-ever Northeastern recipient of a so-called
genius grant from the MacArthur Foundation.^' Senior political science major
Jessie Decker won one of only 60 Truman Scholarships nationwide to help
fund her pursuit of a career in public service."*^

PLACING ACADEMICS FIRST

The media also noticed improvements at Northeastern. The Boston
Globe, the Chronicle of Higher Education, and the Wall Street Journal, among
others, called attention to the university's academic progress during the mid-
1990s. In 1994, in its annual rankings of U.S. colleges and universities, U.S.
News ef World Report raised Northeastern from the fourth to the third tier, plac-
ing it 162nd out of 227 institutions. The magazine also boosted Northeastem's
marks for academic reputation and financial resources."*^

Individually, each of Northeastem's colleges and its School of Law
also garnered noteworthy recognition. For example, National Jurist magazine
named Northeastern the country's best public interest law school in 1994."^
That same year, Northeastem's research scientists were in the top 1 percent
in the nation in terms of citations in the scholarly literature.''^ In 1995, the
university's part-time MBA program was ranked eleventh best in the nation by
U.S. News si World Report. "^^ The magazine also cited the College of Criminal
Justice as one of four outstanding criminal justice programs in the country.''^
Other colleges were also acknowledged for their strong performance in par-
ticular areas. ''^

On campus, students also recognized Northeastem's growing aca-
demic stature. As Patrick McGee, editor of the student newspaper, the North-
eastern News, told the Wall Street Journal in 1994, "Before, [Northeastern] was
like a cream puff — really big, no substance. [Now] most people, by the time
they graduate, say the school has improved so much.'"'^

Clearly, Northeastem's intellectual environment, as well as its reputa-
tion in the academic world, had been reshaped for the better. Such university-
wide improvement had been Curry's strongest desire, and he had worked hard
to make it happen. As trustee chair Matthews put it when Curry announced in
fall 1995 that he would step down from the presidency, "[Jack's] greatest legacy
will be the academic improvements he made in the faculty area and for the stu-
dent body. I think he'll go down in history as the premier academic president
at Northeastern University." ^°

Students enjoy a class outdoors in LeBeau Park, located off Huntington Avenue on the west side
of campus.

CHAPTER FIVE

The Colleges

Achieving Distinction in Arts and Sciences

When Robert Lowndes was named dean of the College of Arts and
Sciences in 1987, he articulated a set of lofty goals for a unit that, for most of
its history, had existed mainly to serve students in the professional schools.
Lowndes's aim, he says, was to establish "a distinctive and high-quality college
of arts and sciences that would have a strong national, if not international, visi-
bility for its academic and research programs and would assume its rightful
place at the heart of Northeastern University."

In many ways, Lowndes's goals were realized. "The college really
came into its own during this period," he says. Gerald Herman, an assistant
professor of history who served as chair of the arts and sciences college coun-
cil for several years when Lowndes was dean, says Lowndes "really turned the
College of Arts and Sciences around."

Despite the financial constraints of the time, Lowndes and President
Curry worked closely together to create a more full-bodied college. The hiring
of several internationally known professors helped boost the college's visibil-
ity; the number of international exchange programs leaped; new programs,
both graduate and undergraduate, were instituted; and the college fostered in-
terdisciplinary study and "experiential" education. A number of veteran pro-
fessors earned honors and recognition, both within and outside the university,
for their work. And several distinguished visitors, invited to the campus by the
college, added substance to its programs and luster to its image.

When Northeastern established the College of Liberal Arts (forerun-
ner of the College of Arts and Sciences) in 1935, it did so because the Board of
Trustees deemed general education necessary for professional students. The
main focus of Northeastern was still law, engineering, and business — not

CHAPTER FIVE

liberal arts — and so arts and sciences would remain primarily a service unit
for the professional schools for decades to come.^ Over the years, the college
did develop departments, majors, and courses that had their ov^m innate liberal
arts value, but only very slowly. Enrollments grew rapidly during the prosper-
ous and socially concerned 1960s. The 1970s recession sent students back to
"safe" professions like business and engineering, at Northeastern and at many
other colleges and universities.

Real change came to the college start-
ing in the late 1970s under President Kenneth G.
Ryder, a former history professor who was pre-
disposed toward the liberal arts. Ryder's liberal
arts dean, Richard Astro, who came to North-
eastern in 1978, oversaw not just a name change
to the College of Arts and Sciences in 1979, re-
flecting the college's broadening scope of offer-
ings, but the addition of several new interdisci-
plinary programs: women's studies, linguistics,
marine studies, urban studies, and law, policy,
and society. Other changes through the 1980s en-
hanced the college as well, such as the creation of
the Division of Fine Arts and the growth of arts
departments, the expansion of the journalism department, and the establish-
ment of the Center for the Study of Sport in Society, which focuses on sports
and athletes to address some of society's worst ills.'^

After Astro stepped down in spring 1986, the dean's post was filled
on an acting basis, for one year, by Edward Neighbor, who had served under
Astro. After a national search, the administration turned to Lowndes.^

A physics professor, Lowndes had become well-known to senior ad-
ministrators after years of service both on the Faculty Senate and the Research
Council. During those years, Curry and Lowndes developed a deep respect for
each others' abilities. As executive vice president, Curry lobbied strongly for
Lowndes's deanship. Lowndes would go on to serve in that capacity through-
out the Curry years and beyond, until 1998, although he spent 1988 and half of
1989 as interim provost after Anthony Penna stepped down from that post.
During that time, biology professor David Wharton served as acting dean of
arts and sciences."*

In terms of enrollments, the college was on firm footing through the
late 1980s and the first half of the 1990s. As enrollments in engineering fell off
starting in the 1980s, and business enrollments dropped in the early 1990s,
both at Northeastern and nationally, students increasingly turned their atten-

Arts and sciences dean
Robert Lowndes

THE COLLEGES

tion to the more general arts and sciences background that many employers
were beginning to seek.^ Two years before the start of Curry's presidency,
about 22 percent of all majors were in arts and sciences; by the end of Curry's
term, that figure had jumped to 32 percent.'' At the same time, selectivity in-
creased; SAT scores of arts and sciences freshmen increased from 904 in 1989
to 956 in 1995 — a jump of more than 50 points — and rose again in 1996 to
1066 on a recentered scaled Because of the large size of the arts and sciences
college, the increased selectivity had a major positive influence on the image
of the university as a whole.

Despite its growth, the College of Arts and Sciences had to deal with
repeated budget cuts as the university downsized; about $5.5 million was elimi-
nated from the college's budget between 1989 and 1996. " It was a constant drain,"
Lowndes admits. Most cuts were gained by leaving positions unfilled when
faculty or staff members retired or resigned. The college, which lost about 32
faculty members during this time, was forced to rely more heavily on part-time
teachers and lecturers. In some cases, class sizes increased. The college also
cut, reluctantiy, several small academic programs, a journal, and an art gallery.

Although the cuts hurt, Lowndes and Curry were determined to
push ahead with the creation of new and innovative programs that would
help strengthen Northeastern despite the necessary downsizing. To this end,
Lowndes oversaw the establishment of 5 new majors and 11 new minors, most
of them emphasizing interdisciplinary study. New majors included American
Sign Language -English Interpreting, one of the first programs of its kind in
the country;^ biochemistry; environmental geology; behavioral neuroscience;
and international affairs. Additional minors were offered in mathematics; hu-
man services; musical theater; Latino, Latin American, and Caribbean studies;
music industry; architecture; Jewish studies; international affairs; journalism;
media studies; and marine biology.

The college also inaugurated a new concept — the integrated dual
major — that made it easier for students to focus on two majors with help
from special "integrated" courses taught by faculty from different depart-
ments. By the end of Curry's presidency, the college had established more than
20 dual majors.^

New graduate programs were created as well. Doctorates were ap-
proved in English (1990), history (1993), and political science (1996). The
Ph.D. in history was initially put on hold because of the university's tight budg-
ets but was later approved with support from Curry, who wanted to boost
Northeastem's intellectual rigor at every opportunity. After the doctorate was
established, in fact, it quickly became known as a leading program in global
historical studies, according to Lowndes. The political science Ph.D., with a

CHAPTER FIVE

focus on public and international affairs, was aimed at students interested in
managerial or policy careers.

When the National Research Council released its national survey of
doctoral programs in 1995, several arts and sciences programs received very
favorable ratings. The top two, and four of the top five, doctoral programs
at Northeastern were in arts and sciences. The top two programs, in physics
and psychology, were ranked in the second quartile nationally, and the math

and chemistry programs were ranked
at the top of the third quartile.^"

Several interdisciplinary mas-
ter's programs were also initiated, in-
cluding a fast-track baccalaureate and
MBA program established jointly with
the business college in 1992; a master
of science in operations research, es-
tablished in 1995 as a joint program of
the math department and the College
of Engineering's mechanical, indus-
trial, and mechanical engineering de-
partment; and a master of arts in teach-
ing degree, created in 1994, aimed at
providing expertise for teachers in nine
different subject areas.

The college also sought to
build on the notion of cooperative edu-
cation, of bridging theory and practice,
with a new concept called "experiential
education." Although co-op had never
been mandatory in arts and sciences,
officials pushed to make the program more attractive to students by broaden-
ing its reach to include a wider array of experiences, such as internships, un-
dergraduate research, study-abroad programs, and service learning." More-
over, efforts were made to make the co-op program more visible and accessible
to students by having some co-op coordinators set up weekly office hours on
site at the college.

The internationalization of the curriculum, in particular, was a cen-
tral focus of the College of Arts and Sciences. At the time Curry became
president, Northeastern had just two international programs, both through
arts and sciences: a program on the politics, culture, and history of Ireland
called "Ireland: North and South"; and a program in England at Goldsmiths
College, University of London. By 1996, arts and sciences had established pro-

Establishing international programs was a
top priority of the arts and sciences college.
Here, students pose at Goldsmiths College,
part of the University of London.

THE COLLEGES

grams at universities in 16 other countries ranging from Australia to Russia to
South Africa.

The College of Arts and Sciences also enhanced its academics, as well
as its reputation, through aggressively recruiting a dozen or so renowned re-
searchers, several of them for newly created endowed professorships.^^ One
of the first hires, in 1989, was Nicholas Daniloff, the author of two books on
the former Soviet Union who had worked for years as a journalist for United
Press International and U.S. News el World Report.
Daniloff would go on to become director of the
School of Journalism in 1992."

Other luminaries included Michael Du-
kakis, former Massachusetts governor and Dem-
ocratic presidential nominee; Edward Bullins,
one of the country's leading black playwrights;
and Terence Baker, an internationally known ma-
terials scientist. Further recruits had national or
international reputations in math (Mickhail Shu-
bin and Mikhail Malutov), education (James
Fraser), American literature (Wayne Franklin),
political science (William Crotty), and biology
(Edward JarroU and James Manning).

Several longtime professors earned
widespread recognition for their research. In
1991, psychology professor Harlan Lane earned
an award from the Mac Arthur Foundation — a
so-called genius grant — for his work on the lan-
guage and culture of deaf communities, his work
with deaf people around the world, and his re-
search on electronic devices to enhance hear-
ing. ^'^ Lane was the first-ever Northeastern pro-
fessor to receive such an honor.

Other faculty members were acknowl-
edged within the university. Six out of seven
Matthews Distinguished Professorships were
awarded to arts and sciences faculty members
during Curry's tenure, as were three of seven
Robert D. Klein lectureships. Matthews profes-
sors included Fa Yueh Wu (physics, named in
1989), James Nagel (English, 1990), Pran Nath
(physics, 1991), Stephen Reucroft (physics, 1992),
Debra Kaufman (sociology, 1994), and Jorge Jose

Nicholas Daniloff — respected
journalist, author, and expert on
the former Soviet Union — was
hired as a journalism professor
in 1989; in 1992 he was named
director of the School of
Journalism.

Former Massachusetts governor
and Democratic presidential
nominee Michael Dukakis
became a political science pro-
fessor at Northeastern in 1991.

CHAPTER FIVE

(physics, 1996). Klein lecturers included Bill Giessen (chemistry), Suzanne
Ogden (political science), and Jorge Jose (physics). ^^

Arts and sciences also inaugurated its own distinguished professor-
ships in 1992, to honor and fund accomplishments in teaching and research.
Awards went to biology's Wendy Smith, to Patrick Manning in history and
African-American studies, to psychology's Joanne Miller, to physics' Alain
Karma, and to sociologist Jack Levin. ^"^

The college also managed to
boost its cadre of minority professors
from 32 to 40 between 1989 and 1996,
despite the overall shrinking of faculty
ranks. Psychology chair Leon Kamin
led the way, enlisting three African-
American faculty members in his
department alone. He was able to
secure these professors largely because
of his successful effort to recruit
African-American students to North-
eastern's graduate program in experi-
mental psychology, which made the
department particularly appealing to
African-American faculty. ^^ As part of
this recruiting effort, Kamin estab-
lished a summer research apprentice
program for minority students aimed
at giving college juniors a chance to do
graduate-level research with psychol-
ogy professors. Kamin's long-term goal
with the summer program was to boost the flow of minority undergraduates
into psychology doctoral programs and to eventually increase the number of
minority professors in the field. ^^ Curry helped by providing the psychology
department, for a few years, with eight extra teaching assistantships that sup-
ported the African-American students who had been recruited; later, says
Kamin, these students were funded by a federal grant.

Research and scholarship by arts and sciences professors brought
in $5 million to $8 million annually between 1989 and 1996, says Lowndes,
and about 220 books were published by faculty members during this period.
The college also continued as home base for two prestigious journals, the New
England Quarterly and Studies in American Fiction.

A distinguished speaker series, begun in 1994, brought several
well-known visiting lecturers to campus, including consumer advocate Ralph

World-renowned physicist Stephen Hawking
speaks to a standing-room-only crowd at
Northeastern in April 1990 at an inter-
national conference on particles, strings,
and cosmology.

THE COLLEGES

Nader and Polish president Lech Walesa, to give public lectures as well as meet
with students in smaller groups." Another famous researcher, physicist
Stephen Hawking, drew huge crowds to Blackman Auditorium when he spoke
at the first International Symposium on Particles, Strings, and Cosmology,
organized in spring 1990 by a group of Northeastern physicists led by
Matthews professor Nath.^**

Students also benefited from a new focus for arts programs and
events on campus. For 10 years, from 1982 to 1992, Sergei Tschernisch had di-
rected the Division of Performing and Visual Arts, generating acclaim for
Northeastern by creating the eclectic and avant-garde nuArts performance se-
ries.^^ After Tschernisch left, longtime theater professor Mort Kaplan stepped
in and sought to increase campus interest in the arts by adding more acces-
sible performances and student workshops. ^^ In 1993, the division was re-
named the Center for the Arts to reflect its new emphasis.'^^

Other centers in the college achieved their own brand of distinc-
tion, through research as well as outreach to Boston and beyond. For example,
the Center for Labor Market Studies, headed by economists Andrew Sum
and Paul Harrington, continued to examine a wide variety of issues such
as employment, job training, wages, welfare, and the overall economic and so-
cial conditions of American families, serving as an important regional and na-
tional resource for information. The center produced scores of articles, mon-
ographs, and books on regional, national, and state labor markets and workers,
for use by foundations, consulting organizations, government agencies, pro-
fessors, and national and local media experts. ^"^ The center's national repu-
tation, and the willingness of Sum and Harrington to talk economics with
reporters, demonstratively boosted Northeastern's visibility. Sum and Harring-
ton also worked directly with Curry, providing him with studies of enrollment
and demographic trends that helped him and other senior officials plan for
Northeastern's future.

The Marine Science Center, located in Nahant, Massachusetts, main-
tained its research and educational offerings in marine biology, including its
signature East/ West Marine Biology program, which provided students with
opportunities to do field research and laboratory work both in the United
States and the West Indies. In the early 1990s, the center received support
from the National Science Foundation and the university to construct new
laboratory space, which the center's director, Joseph Ayers, opened to North
Shore students. ^^

A new Center for Interdisciplinary Research on Complex Systems,
established in 1994, aimed to bring together researchers from a variety of dis-
ciplines, all with a core in physics, to address interdisciplinary problems in
biology and materials science.^^

CHAPTER FIVE

In 1993, the Center for Innovation in Urban Education was estab-
lished to strengthen links between higher education and public schools, par-
ticularly those in the city, and to position Northeastern as a regional leader in
urban education. Headed by James Fraser, a leading Massachusetts authority
on education, the center served as an umbrella unit for Northeastem's urban
education programs, fostering collaborations between the university and area
schools. The center also focused on demonstration projects for schools, con-
tinuing education for teachers, and fresh approaches to teacher education.^^

Several other outreach programs to high schools were pioneered by
faculty members. One project, begun by math professor Robert Case, brought
state-of-the-art calculus courses to Boston high schools; another initiative, led
by public relations professor Kelley Chunn, helped introduce minority high
school students to the field of public relations; and yet another program, run
by biology professors Kostia Bergman, Aileen Knowles, and Phyllis Strauss,
drew middle and high school science teachers to the campus in the summer
for training and updating in biochemistry and molecular biology.

Another form of outreach was sustained through the work of music
professor Roland Nadeau, founder and former chair of Northeastem's music
department. Nadeau, who had developed the popular Music at Noon concert
series at Northeastern, also continued to host the long-running public radio
program on WGBH, A Note to You, that introduced the joys of classical music
to thousands of listeners.

Arts and sciences students also achieved notable gains during Curry's
presidency. Hundreds participated in the university's honors program. Stu-
dents on the university's forensics team garnered attention as some of the top
college-level debaters in the country, competing against schools like Cornell,
MIT, Yale, and West Point. In 1990, in its seventh year of competition, the team
was ranked thirteenth in the nation. ^^ To better support the forensics team as
well as other student extracurricular activities, the college established a special
fund in 1991 to help pay for field trips, participation by some students in the
Model United Nations, and student clubs and colloquia.

One student, political science major Jessie Decker, won a highly com-
petitive national award for students pursuing public service careers. Decker was
one of 60 students nationwide to receive the $30,000 Truman Scholarship.^^

The successes of arts and sciences — faculty research, innovative pro-
grams, student accomplishments, noteworthy visitors — were highlighted in a
high-quality publication called the Arts e[ Sciences Chronicle, which first ap-
peared in spring 1988. Originally conceived as a fundraising tool, the Chronicle
was so well received that it began to be used as a recruiting vehicle for new stu-
dents. By the end of the Curry presidency, the Chronicle's typical distribution

THE COLLEGES

had topped 30,000 and was reaching alumni, potential students, parents, the
campus community, corporations, and friends.

A year before Curry stepped down, in 1994-95, the college celebrated
its diamond, or sixtieth, anniversary year. Numerous events were planned to
commemorate the anniversary, such as visits by guest speakers like U.S. labor
secretary Robert Reich and United Press International White House corre-
spondent Helen Thomas; conferences on education and the media; and the-
ater and music productions. It was a fitting tribute to a college that had come
far from somewhat humble beginnings. It was also an appropriate celebration
of its significant gains, in spite of severe budget constraints, through the late
1980s and mid-1990s. Says Curry, "As an alumnus of the college, I am partic-
ularly proud of its great strides during this period."

A New Bouve College Expands Its Competitive Edge

Bouve College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences faced greater change

than any other academic unit at Northeastern during the Curry years. The

most visible and momentous was the restructuring of the college itselfi in

1992, the College of Pharmacy and Allied Health Professions joined with

Boston-Bouve College of Human Development

Professions to become the new Bouve College

of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. Departments

were shifted, programs were added or dropped,

and staffing changed. One constant remained,

however: Bouve's programs continued to be

among the most competitive and selective at

the university, attracting superior students and

boasting the highest student retention rates of

all of Northeastem's colleges. Near the end of

Curry's presidency, Bouve dean James Gozzo told

the Northeastern Voice, "The word is out that

, 1 .. 1, „ ,„ Bouve dean lames Gozzo

we re a selective college. ^"

Bouve's strongest programs, pharmacy and physical therapy, were
complemented by six other signature programs: athletic training; cardiopul-
monary sciences; counseling psychology, rehabilitation, and special education;
medical laboratory science; speech-language pathology and audiology; and
the physician assistant program. As a group, the programs routinely received
between 5 and 10 applications for each available spot.^^ Between fall 1989 and
fall 1995, average SAT scores of entering freshmen jumped about 90 points.

CHAPTER FIVE

from 910 to 1001, and rose even higher the following year according to a re-
centered scale.^^

But while Bouve's individual programs performed well through the
years, the question of the college's organization had preoccupied officials for
the better part of a decade. Before the fall 1992 merger, the university com-
munity had spent literally thousands of hours discussing and debating how to
bring together the various health programs at Northeastern.

Bouve's roots go back to 1964, when Bouve-Boston, a well-known
four-year women's college dedicated to physical education and physical ther-
apy, cut its ties with Tufts University to join wdth Northeastern, reversing its
name to Boston-Bouve." By the mid-1970s, when it became clear that North-
eastern's College of Education was in trouble because of declining enrollments
and a poor job market for graduates, the idea arose of merging the two col-
leges. That merger was finalized in 1980.^"* Through the 1980s, with changes
in the marketplace, Boston-Bouve's emphases began to shift as well — from
turning out physical education teachers to producing athletic trainers; from
community and outdoor recreation programs to fitness and sports/recreation
management; and, in health education, to a greater focus on community health,
preparing students for careers in rehabilitation centers, fitness and exercise
centers, and hospitals. ^^

Throughout the same period, Northeastern's College of Pharmacy
was pursuing its own path. The college was born in 1962 as the result of an
agreement between Northeastern and the New England College of Pharmacy,
which closed its doors as an independent institution at that time. A master's
program in pharmacy was established in 1964 and enrollment increased
steadily throughout the 1960s. Then, in 1971, Northeastern consolidated its
proliferating health science programs, including pharmacy, into a new College
of Pharmacy and Allied Health Professions. Although some faculty members
at the time were reluctant to cede authority over their own programs, the new
college grew quickly throughout the mid-1970s. ^^

In the 1980s, however, the college experienced its owti enrollment
problems, prompted in part by students' flight from low-paying fields in pur-
suit of success in the high-flying business world. Moreover, the college suf-
fered a loss of resources when government financial support for health pro-
fessions programs and students, which had been plentiful in the 1960s and
1970s in response to national concern over a shortage in health personnel,
dried up when that crisis was over.

While the college worked hard to improve its programs, it continued
to be plagued by low enrollments, prompting the university in the mid-1980s
to revisit the idea of consolidating its health programs into a single unit.

THE COLLEGES

By 1987, a commission of faculty and administrators had recom-
mended the creation of a health professions college consisting of four schools:
pharmacy, nursing, allied health education, and administration and counsel-
ing. But faculty voiced concerns about leadership, citing differences among
the various units that they thought would make it difficult to merge. The dis-
cussions became so divisive that, by spring 1987, President Ryder decided to
reject the merger plan.^^

The issue of merging health programs was not over, however. Part of
what had prompted discussions in the first place was the feeling that a single
health professions college would help make clear to the outside world North-
eastern's strength in this area, thus boosting its reputation as well as its en-
rollments. Notes Patrick Plunkett, an associate dean with the pharmacy college
and later with Bouve, who would go on to become interim dean of Bouve after
Gozzo's departure in 1998, "With several different health-related colleges, it
was sometimes very hard to see the kind of depth and breadth of program-
ming that was actually here at Northeastern relating to the health sciences."
And so, when the university faced its 1990 budget crisis, senior officials de-
cided it was time to take action.

Says Gozzo, "In the previous merger discussions, there was no real
financial need at the time to do so, no real urgency. And, as in any merger,
people would lose positions. But in 1992, when the decision was made to
merge, there was no question that it was going to happen."

Deliberations about the merger began in late 1991, with both Curry
and provost Michael Baer meeting with the involved faculty; the move was ap-
proved in spring 1992, and the reconstituted college was opened in fall 1992.
Three Bouve programs — physical education, school and community health
education, and recreation management — were eliminated. A fourth, the grad-
uate program in speech-language pathology and audiology, was spared from
being cut after its director, Kevin Kearns, and other advocates pointed out its
benefits to the university. ^^ Nursing was not included in this merger, although
it would later join the health professions college after Curry's retirement. The
1992 merger saved the university about $1.5 million over four years. ^^

Other benefits emerged as well. Plunkett says the merger created a
"critical mass" of programs that demonstrated the university's strong engage-
ment with the health sciences. In addition, he says, a vigorous new department
of cardiopulmonary sciences evolved from the merger, formed from the de-
partments of respiratory therapy and health, sport, and leisure studies. "These
two groups of faculty who had been in two separate colleges, and who shared
so much in common, could be brought together," says Plunkett. "They pooled
their resources and their facilities to create a thriving department."

CHAPTER FIVE

Indeed, the college as a whole thrived during the Curry years, in spite
of the ongoing budget problems. As with the College of Nursing, increased
demand in the health professions brought greater numbers of applicants to
Bouve. Before the 1992 merger, undergraduate enrollments in both Bouve
and the pharmacy college had been fairly steady, averaging between 1,050 and
1,150 in the former and 600 and 700 in the latter. After the merger, enroll-
ments stood at about 1,550, then began to grow, climbing to nearly 1,750 by fall
1996.'*° Gozzo says that the restructured college attracted students interested in
developing an awareness of a variety of health professions.

At the same time, selectivity was very high. For instance, Plunkett
says, physical therapy attracted such top-quality students that the retention
rate was the highest of any program in the university. Pharmacy at times drew
roughly 20 transfer applications for every opening in the program. And in fall
1995, 450 individuals applied for just 40 spots in the college's graduate speech
pathology program."*'

Several new programs were established during Curry's tenure. A new
bachelor's in cardiopulmonary sciences was approved in 1992,"*^ and a master's
was affirmed two years later. Two other graduate programs were created: a six-
year doctorate in pharmacy (1993) and a six-year master's in physical therapy
(1995).'*^ At the same time, the college took steps to phase out its undergradu-
ate degrees in these two fields, in deference to a health professions market-
place that was demanding greater expertise from its entry-level workers."*^
The college also made plans for a new five-year master's program in speech-
language pathology and audiology, which enrolled its first students in 1996."*^

The college's physician's assistant program, led for its entire history
by professor Suzanne Greenberg, marked its twentieth anniversary in 1992
with much to celebrate."*^ At that time, the graduate program was one of only
55 such programs in the country and the only one in Massachusetts. It was
accepting only 1 out of every 10 applicants, and nearly half of Massachusetts 's
licensed physician assistants had graduated from Northeastern's two-year pro-
gram."*^ In 1990, Northeastern ranked fourth nationally in terms of these
graduates passing the national licensing examination, Greenberg says. And
in 1994, the program was ranked in the top 10 percent of similar programs
nationally and was fifth out of 58 programs in the primary care and surgery
components."*^

In the research arena, the level of outside support increased to about
$4 million annually. A new research center — the Center for Drug Targeting
and Analysis — was founded under the direction of Ban-an Khaw, an inter-
nationally known researcher who came to Northeastern in 1991 from Harvard

THE COLLEGES

Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital.'^^ The center's goal was
to experiment with new methods of transporting drugs to specific areas of the
body without affecting other areas. Khaw's work was supported by pharmacy
alumnus George Behrakis, who gave $250,000 in 1991 for Khaw's endowed
professorship, and two years later contributed $1 million for an endowed
chair. External grant funding for Khaw's research ranged between $250,000
and $500,000 a year.^° Curry helped by providing funds for a major renovation
in the Mugar building to create a new lab for Khaw, as well as for lab renova-
tions for other Bouve disciplines and seed grants to spur faculty research.

Other researchers also brought in millions in research dollars during
the Curry years: Matthews Distinguished Professor Mary Florentine, for her
interdisciplinary research on hearing; medicinal chemistry's Roger Giese, for
his work developing techniques to detect toxic contaminants in DNA; and
Gozzo himself, for research on how to control the rejection response in organ
transplantation.

On another front, special education expert Karen Lifter volunteered
her services when Northeastern took on the task of evaluating the effectiveness
and examining the finances of the Boston public schools in 1991.^^ Lifter was
one of a number of university faculty members from various units who lent
their expertise to the cost-cutting effort.

Faculty members worked as hard in the classroom as they did in the
lab. Some class sizes were larger than faculty would have liked because, on oc-
casion, budget pressures led admissions officials to accept more students to
Bouve than planned for. Bouve was a logical place to boost acceptances be-
cause the quality of incoming freshmen was invariably high. Although larger
class sizes were burdensome, Plunkett says faculty rose to the challenge. "The
faculty took their responsibilities to the students very, very seriously," he says.
"Though there was frustration, I don't think students ever saw it. Everyone
would just roll up their sleeves and work harder."

Indeed, Bouve had a reputation for close relationships between stu-
dents and faculty members. Gozzo himself met v^th students once a quarter
so they could air their concerns. The effort to connect with students wasn't lost
on Curry, who often pointed to Bouve as a good example of the kind of student-
centeredness he wanted to see practiced on a university- wide basis.

Bouve 's efforts to engage wdth students reflected one of Northeastem's
central goals during the Curry administration: to make the campus a friend-
lier, more welcoming place. Indeed, all of Bouve's accomplishments during
this period — maintaining high quality, instituting new programs in response
to market-driven trends, focusing on several areas of quality research, and

CHAPTER FIVE

remaining adaptable — were emblematic of the achievements of the university
as a whole during a period of economic uncertainty and academic challenge.

Modern Facilities and Fresh Ideas Fuel
College of Business Administration

In February 1992, when the Northeastern Voice featured an article in
which college deans discussed how they were coping with budget cuts, busi-
ness dean David Boyd sounded an optimistic note. In spite of the fact that
enrollments in the College of Business Administration had dropped precipi-
tously since the mid-1980s, Boyd insisted that the college had to keep invest-
ing in its future. "We have to be entrepreneurial," he told the Voice, "because
once we come out of this enrollment decline, we want to be positioned as a
competitor in the marketplace."^^

Boyd's comment aptly describes the college's stance during the dif-
ficult period of the late 1980s and early to mid-1990s. Even though under-
graduate enrollments had fallen by half between 1989-90 and 1995-96, the
college still advanced a number of initiatives. The moves weren't made simply
for posterity or because the business college had been a Northeastern main-
stay for years, with roots going back to 1910.
Instead, the feeling was that enhancing the col-
lege's strength even when budgets were tight was
necessary to prepare for the inevitable return of
busines as a popular undergraduate major.

And so, new majors were created; inter-
. „ir- ^^^ national programs and collaborations were

^M^ '^""X — ^^^1 expanded; students' experiences in the college
I^^^^Nfc^ fl^^^l were improved; interdisciplinary study was fos-

^^^^^ ^^^^^H tered; and selectivity was emphasized as average
^^^^^k^^mi^^^^^M ^^ scores of incoming freshmen jumped by 40
^^^^^^^^^^ points, from 945 in fall 1989 to 985 in fall 1995; in

fall 1996, the average score was 1057 on a recen-
tered scale." "Despite the difficult times, creativ-
ity flourished in the college," Boyd says. "We pushed for innovation even dur-
ing the downturn, because innovation represents the future."

The most visible move in this direction was the complete overhaul of
the Dodge building to create a new home for the college, after the library was

David Boyd served as business
dean from 1 987 through 1 994.

THE COLLEGES

relocated to its new home in Snell. Curry worked with Boyd for months to raise
funds for the $12 miUion renovation despite the bleak enrollment picture.

"Jack understood that to increase enrollments and stay competitive, it
was necessary to invest in Dodge," Boyd says. "It was important to create a
sense of community for our students."

Curry concurs: "We knew that business enrollments would not
stay down forever, and that it was essential to have a vision and plan for
the late 1990s."

Still, it was a leap of faith to spend so much money on the college's
future, given the magnitude of its losses. In fall 1985, at its largest, the college
had served nearly 4,100 undergraduates and 1,300 graduate students. ^"^ Nearly
800 new freshmen came that year, and the numbers kept increasing right
through fall 1988, when nearly 930 freshmen enrolled. The college could not
find business faculty fast enough, even entering into bidding wars to lure new
teachers. Northeastern clearly enjoyed the fruits of the nation's love affair with
the business world during the 1980s, buoyed by increased productivity and a
soaring stock market.

In hindsight, Boyd calls the numbers "too good." He says the college
was accepting more students than it could reasonably accommodate; it might
have been more prudent had the college accepted fewer people and focused
more on improving quality and services for those who did enroll. "These were
reforms that eventually took place under Jack," Boyd says. "But they didn't ex-
ist at the time."

When the Dow Jones Average dropped more than 500 points in Octo-
ber 1987, leaving investors scrambling for cover and corporations searching
for ways to downsize, students stopped flocking to business schools. Fresh-
man numbers began falling in 1989. That year, 731 new students enrolled; in
1990, the number decreased to 448; then the numbers went even lower, to 365
in fall 1991 and, the lowest point, 270 in fall 1992." By fall 1995, the total num-
ber of undergraduates had declined to 1,848 — less than half the number of
10 years earlier. Graduate student enrollments also dropped, from about 1,300
in fall 1985 to 880 in fall 1995; most of the losses came from part-time enroll-
ments, which plummeted from 900 to 500.^''

While many business schools suffered during this period, Boyd says
Northeastern was hit harder for several reasons. Part of the picture reflected
demographics; the high school population had decreased more sharply in the
Northeast than elsewhere in the country. A second reason was that Northeast-
em's acceptance rate was already so high that the pool of applicants it could

CHAPTER FIVE

accept without further eroding academic standards was nonexistent. A third
problem was that none of the wide array of graduate programs had cultivated
a sufficiently strong niche for itself The college also faced strong competition
from other regional schools such as Boston University, Boston College, and so-
called boutique colleges like Babson and Bentley, which focused exclusively on
business programs.

A more serious issue was that Northeastern's image as an easy in-
stitution to gain admission to sometimes obscured the good programs that
its individual colleges had to offer. "We were a very good school," Boyd says,
"but we had not yet cultivated the image of 'smaller but better.' We had not
yet adequately conveyed the notion of the really good product that we did
in fact have."

To cope with the enrollment downturn, the college explored ways to
cut expenses. It froze hiring, did not renew some junior faculty contracts, and
cut back on lectureships. The number of full-time faculty dropped from 112 to
69 between 1989 and 1996." The situation "forced us to make some real deci-
sions and we probably emerged the better for it," Boyd says now.

But retrenchment was only part of the story. Officials also set about
making improvements aimed at strategically positioning the college for future
stability. Dozens of high school guidance counselors were invited to campus
meetings with faculty members, and college officials visited high schools to
promote the business program. Boyd and his colleagues solicited suggestions
from corporate leaders, alumni, and recruiters as to what sort of training
would be most valuable for graduates. Focus groups helped determine what
programs current students wanted. Guidebooks and other communictions
with prospective students were improved. By 1993, wdth Curry's backing, the
college had adopted several new programs: master's degrees in finance and
taxation, and a bachelor's degree in international business, which combined
a curriculum of business administration with the study of foreign language
and culture. ^^

The international business degree, which began accepting its first
new students in fall 1994, allowed the college to capitalize on the increasingly
global economy and to attract students from new locales, and it quickly be-
came one of the business school's biggest drawing cards. By its second year, a
third of all those interested in the College of Business Administration wanted
to come to Northeastern because of the international business degree, and the
program was welcoming between 50 and 60 new students each year.^^

International connections were promoted in novel ways during
Curry's presidency. New electives with an international focus were offered;

THE COLLEGES

global business issues were incorporated into many courses; and the college
fostered new strategic alliances with business schools and government or-
ganizations overseas. International exchange programs flourished, sending
students to Canada, the Czech Republic, England, France, Finland, Germany,
Hungary, Indonesia, and Singapore. Customized international programs
brought foreign executives to Northeastern for training, including groups
from the Soviet Union and India. As Boyd wrote in the college's 1989-90
annual report, the marketplace had become
global, and an international focus "has become
an integral part of our identity." ^°

Even the choice of a new dean, Ira Weiss,
reflected the college's concern with international
connections. Weiss, who came to Northeastern in
1994 after serving as dean of the Madrid Busi-
ness School for two years, was praised by provost
Baer at the time for his understanding of and ex-
perience in international business.^^

The college also fostered interdiscipli-
nary connections during Curry's tenure. To cre-
ate the bachelor's in international business, for
example, business college officials collaborated

with other colleges at Northeastern. With the College of Nursing, the business
college instituted a combination master's of science and master's in business
administration for advanced practice nurses seeking management positions in
health care. Under Weiss, the Graduate School of Business Administration be-
gan a joint program with Tufts University School of Medicine and Brandeis
University's Heller School to offer a combined medical degree and master's in
business administration in health management.*^^ Also, the college's creation
of customized programs for specific companies led to more crossflow and
team teaching within the business college itself and less emphasis on dividing
programs along strict functional lines, Boyd says.

In addition to instituting new academic programs, college adminis-
trators and faculty also focused on helping freshmen bond with the college
more quickly, by setting up new one-credit courses, similar to courses that
had already been established in the College of Engineering, that introduced
them to what the college and co-op were all about. Weiss observes that
there were "phenomenal" outcomes from that strategy. Both during Curry's
time and shorfly after, Weiss says, retention of students between the fresh-
man and sophomore years improved by almost 10 percent, from 72 percent to

Ira Weiss became business
dean in 1994.

CHAPTER FIVE

81 percent. The gains were also a function of increased undergraduate finan-
cial aid and the improving quality of incoming students.

To boost research, Curry invested $1 million over a two-year period
in research productivity awards. The more research a faculty member did,
the more teaching release time he or she would get. Curry also allowed any
profits made from international ventures to be rolled over into new inter-
national programs. The business college benefited from other university-
wide efforts to spur research and teaching improvement, including pro-
viding faculty members and their departments and colleges v^th overhead
reimbursement funds from federal grants, and with awards from the pro-
vost's strategic initiatives fund, the faculty development fund, and the instruc-
tional development fund. Boyd says such moves nourished an entrepreneurial
spirit in the college during what was, overall, a time of constriction and cut-
backs. Says Curry, "These were ways to keep up morale when money was be-
ing taken away."

Research by business faculty during Curry's tenure covered a spec-
trum of topics ranging from Russian management to corporate crises. For
example, in the management area, Daniel McCarthy focused on corporate
strategy, Russian management, global competition, and the management of
high-tech companies; Marc Meyer researched new product development; Ravi
Ramamurti studied privatization; and Eileen Trauth analyzed the impact of in-
formation technology on organizations and societies. In the human resources
area, Ralph Katz studied how to manage technical innovation and technical
professionals; Sheila Puffer examined leadership, international business, and
Russian managerial practices; and Bert Spector focused on managing human
resources during times of organizational change. Harlan Piatt, in the finance
area, analyzed corporate bankruptcy and crisis management.

The relationship between Curry and the college of business went be-
yond simply readjusting the money flow. He also worked closely with several
members of the faculty — with Wesley Marple, Jr., who chaired the Faculty
Senate early in Curry's presidency; with Edward Wertheim and Joseph
Meador, who chaired, at different times, the Senate's financial affairs commit-
tee and collaborated with Curry in identifying key university budget issues;
and with Jeffery Born, who in 1995 and 1996 played a key role in the univer-
sity's newly formed financial priorities committee. "I had tremendous help
from the faculty of that college," Curry says.

Curry also endorsed the college's connections with the corporate com-
munity. During his tenure, such relationships were fostered by the expansion
of the college's board of visitors and its associates program. The board of visi-
tors was established in 1982 to encourage top New England executives to lend

THE COLLEGES

their advice and expertise to the college; the associates program, begun in
1984, gave corporate members access to faculty research as well as to seminars
and workshops, while generating extra revenue for the college through dues
payments. The college also fostered a strong corporate network by continuing
to run its popular breakfast forums for chief executive officers, a program rec-
ognized in 1996 as a national leader by Top Speaking Forums, a Washington,
D.C.-based organization.*^^ Students also reaped the benefits of the college's

Graduate business students in a Dodge Hall study lounge; the renovated building featured a
corporate ambience, amphitheater-styled classrooms, and smaller rooms and a cafe aimed at
promoting interaction among students and faculty members.

corporate ties, through courses such as "The Chief Executive Officer" and
"The Chief Financial Officer," both of which featured lively classroom presen-
tations by leading New England executives.

Just as corporate ties were necessary to the college through the late
1980s and the first half of the 1990s, so too was the notion that the college's en-
vironment should evoke a corporate atmosphere. The renovated Dodge build-
ing, which opened in fall 1993, had wide corridors, tall ceilings, marble floors,
blue-tinted windows, a cafe and other places to sit and talk, and a lobby with
a decidedly corporate ambience.^'^ "It was important to have that corporate
look, because if we look good, then people assume we are good," Boyd says.
"We all knew our excellence, but it was essential to get it to percolate to the
world outside."

CHAPTER FIVE

The building not only burnished the business school's image, but
more important, it enhanced the academic experience, Boyd says. The
structure was designed to encourage an "ambience of interaction" outside the
classroom. The classrooms themselves aimed at the same goal; they were
amphitheater-styled, hard-wired for computers, and equipped with VCR tech-
nology. There were also smaller rooms for seminars, meetings, and study. The
whole point, says Boyd, was to create space that would enhance teaching in the
business college environment, which placed heavy emphasis on discussion
and crossflow among teachers and students. And the finished building was
indeed a place where students could feel comfortable learning as well as
talking with professors and one another. "When I first came here," Boyd re-
calls, "a bell would ring and people would race off into the night and that was
it. Now they linger and reflect. The mood is 'Let's stay here and talk about
things academic.'"

The quality of the business college's academic program was recog-
nized by independent observers even as the college struggled wdth budget and
enrollment issues. A book called The Ultimate Guide: Top Business Schools, pub-
lished in 1990, named Northeastem's graduate school of business one of the
top 5 such schools in New England, out of a group of 57 chosen from 700
schools nationwide.^^ And in 1995, U.S. News ej World Report ranked North-
eastem's part-time MBA program as eleventh best in the nation.'^''

The Dodge renovation, new academic programs, and the connections
fostered between faculty and students and the outside world created a new syn-
ergy that nourished a resurgence for the business college. In a remarkable six-
year turnaround, the College of Business Administration was transformed
from a program struggling merely to survive into a proud leader in the field
of business education. Weiss says the enrollment management changes of the
Curry era — wdth emphasis on recruiting in new markets such as California,
Colorado, Florida, and Texas — helped the university, and the business college,
find a new, larger pool of better-prepared students. "The successes we're see-
ing now," said Weiss in 1999, "are seeds that were planted several years ago."

College of Computer Science Gains Stature

The College of Computer Science, which saw its enrollments battered
in the economic storm of the mid- to late 1980s, was one of several Northeast-
em colleges to alter its course in the early 1990s. In fact, the turnaround was
critical for the college, which v^tnessed its very existence being called into

THE COLLEGES

question after undergraduate enrollments fell nearly 70 percent in seven years,
plummeting from a high of 779 in 1984 to a low of 263 in 1991.*^^

The changes made by the college succeeded. Enrollments began inch-
ing back up in 1992 and continued in that direction through fall 1996, when
undergraduate students numbered 359.^^ It was still a far cry from 1984, but it
was a positive development. And the turnabout had come not just in enroll-
ments, but in the college's overall philosophy. Throughout the early 1990s,
computer science officials sought to become less
insular, to establish connections with Northeast-
em's other colleges, so that by the end of the
Curry presidency, computer science was much
more tightly woven into the academic fabric of
the university. At the same time, computer sci-
ence faculty members continued to wdn impres-
sive grants for their research, and the academic
caliber of computer science students remained
the best of any at Northeastern.

During Curry's tenure, the computer
science college had two leaders. Cynthia Brown,
an associate professor at Northeastern since 1984
and the college's research director since 1989,
became dean in September 1990 after a year as
acting dean.^^ When Brown left for Oregon's Port-
land State University in 1994, Larry Finkelstein
was named dean.'''' He had been a member of
the computer science faculty since 1983, research
director after Brov^rn became dean, and associate
dean and director of the graduate school begin-
ning in 1991.

When the college opened in 1982, no
one could foresee the troubles computer science
would experience. At that time, it seemed clear
to President Ryder that a separate college made
good sense to accommodate the growing com-
puter science profession, despite opposition from
the colleges of engineering and arts and sciences,

which had run computer science as an interdisciplinary program before
1982.''^ Early indications pointed to success. The college more than doubled
its enrollments in its first two years;^^ it received glowing accreditation

Cynthia Brown led the computer
science college from 1990 to
1994.

Larry Finkelstein became
computer science dean in 1994.

CHAPTER FIVE

reports from its first review in 1986 onward; and it established a doctoral pro-
gram in 1987. Furthermore, it boasted an impressively refurbished facility,
the former Botolph building, the oldest structure on Northeastern's campus,
which became David and Margaret Fitzgerald Cullinane Hall in Septem-
ber 1985, in honor of the parents of alumnus and trustee John Cullinane,
founder and chairman of Cullinet Software, Inc., who gave generously to sup-
port the renovation.''^

But enrollments began to dip, partly because of changes in the econ-
omy and partly because — as computer science officials admitted then and still
acknowledge today — the program was extremely challenging. Early on, the
college had sought to train students in theoretical computer science concepts
that would serve them well for years to come, as opposed to particular kinds of
software that could become obsolete in a year or two. Such a focus made sense
because, as Brown points out, students must learn general principles to enable
them to work v^th various kinds of new technology. But the work was tough,
prompting some students to drop out or choose not to attend Northeastern in
the first place. ^"^ Those who did stay sometimes had a hard time sticking it
out until graduation; from the mid-1980s through the mid-1990s, the college
typically lost a sizable portion of its freshmen every year — on average, be-
tween 35 and 40 percent.^^ To offset the losses, as well as to appease employ-
ers who wanted computer science graduates to be familiar with current tech-
nology, the college moved toward more of a middle ground by continuing to
offer strong theoretical training but adding hands-on experience with current
software, according to Brov^m.

When Northeastern faced its budget crisis in 1990, some officials and
faculty questioned the wisdom of maintaining computer science as a separate
college. In winter 1991, Provost Baer appointed a committee, chaired by crimi-
nal justice dean James Fox, to examine whether or not computer science
should continue independently.'''^ The committee considered various issues:
what the cost savings might be if computer science were merged into another
college; whether or not computer science might draw more external fianding,
particularly from industry, if it were located in the College of Engineering;
whether moving computer science might affect its visibility; and how shifting
the program might affect teaching and research.

After the committee issued its report in late spring, Baer decided to
leave the computer science college intact. He says he did so because, as the re-
port outlined, the college had quality faculty and the potential to expand its ex-
ternal funding; it would lose visibility as part of another college; and its pro-
grams didn't fit comfortably either in engineering or in arts and sciences.

THE COLLEGES

Still, Baer laid out some conditions for Dean Brown. Enrollments, he
said, must be doubled within two years and the college had to offer service
courses to outside majors and deliver them well. In essence, the college had to
prove that it was essential to Northeastern.

Brown accepted the challenge and succeeded in making the changes
Baer sought. A computer literacy course was established for students from all
disciplines at the university, with sections tailored for those majoring in areas
as different as nursing, criminal justice, and mathematics. "There was a con-
certed effort for our college to play a more strategic role, both in service
courses and in new programs," says Finkelstein. "We wanted not to just look
inward, but to really have an impact on the university."

Says Baer, "Cynthia [Brown] and Larry [Finkelstein] changed the cul-
ture of the college and enabled the faculty to recognize their breadth of ability
and their centrality to the university."

This change of focus was not unique to Northeastern. A 1992 report
from the National Research Council titled "Computing the Future" articulated
a criticism of computer science programs in general for failing to engage in
more interdisciplinary ventures. ^^ "Other disciplines were becoming more de-
pendent on computing technology," says Finkelstein. "Physics, engineering,
business, health, you name it. And there was a danger that those fields would
develop their own kinds of computing infrastructures," which could be cum-
bersome as well as a financial burden on institutions.

In the early 1990s, the computer science college also began to partner
with other academic units in seeking joint grants from outside. The move
was successful: one joint grant submitted to the National Science Foundation
with the Center for Digital Signal Processing, part of the electrical and com-
puter engineering department, brought in nearly $1 million for new computer
equipment in 1991.^^ Curry assisted in securing the grant by meeting person-
ally with federal reviewers. Brown recalls. "Jack really came through and
helped us get that grant," she says. "It was a big feather in our cap and got us
equipment that we badly needed."

Individual computer science faculty members also won major grants.
Robert Futrelle was awarded $4 million from the National Science Foundation
(NSF) in 1989 for the biological knowledge laboratory, a project aimed at
improving computer searches of biological literature. Futrelle, along with col-
leagues Ken Baclawski and Carole Hafner, secured another $700,000 from the
NSF in 1992 for a related grant to study databases for biological papers and
techniques. Mitchell Wand brought in several large grants to support his work
in programming languages. Other major areas of research included software

CHAPTER FIVE

engineering, theory, symbolic algebra, and networks. Still other faculty worked
to develop interactive software for teaching computer science7^ For four out of
the seven years between 1989 and 1996, faculty of the small college received
between $1 million and $2 million annually in external research funding.^°

The college also sponsored several prestigious academic journals,
including Theory and Practice of Object Systems, coedited by Karl Leiberherr,
and Artificial Intelligence and the Law, edited by Hafner and the law school's
Donald Berman.

Another computer science faculty member, Richard Rasala, played a
key role in the Curry administration's efforts to enhance computer technology
on campus. Rasala acted as an adviser without portfolio to Curry helping the
university understand the importance of investing in technology and serving
on several key committees devoted to creating the campus-wide computer net-
work known as NUNet and to providing up-to-date computers for faculty staff,
and students.

In addition to its strong research focus, the computer science college
also endeavored to fulfill a key goal of the Curry administration — strengthen-
ing ties with the cooperative education department. Melvin Simms, a co-op
coordinator who worked with computer science students, was the first of
his colleagues to establish an on-site office in one of the colleges. Setting
up shop in the Botolph building helped reinforce the notion that co-op was
an integral part of the learning experience and made it easier for students to
meet with Simms.

The computer science college also made strides in improving the
quality of the student experience, yet another of Curry's major goals. The col-
lege involved students in its daily life and sought to make them feel comfort-
able by maintaining a small-college environment within the larger university.
Computer science students interviewed by the Northeastern Voice in 1995 said
they felt strongly connected with their college, partly through volunteering to
help maintain and upgrade the college's computer system and pardy through
ample communication with professors and other students via computer "dun-
geons"— the forerunners of Internet chat rooms — in which up to 40 individ-
uals could converse at the same time.^^ Finkelstein told the Voice, "We've tried
to use the notion of electronic community to reduce the size of a large, urban,
impersonal university."

In many ways, the College of Computer Science improved not just in
spite of its early enrollment losses and the near-loss of its very identity, but be-
cause of those crises. "During Jack's presidency, the computer science college

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became more well-rounded," says Baer. "It graduated its first doctoral stu-
dents, had as diverse a faculty as any computer science program in the coun-
try, and increased its research capacity and national reputation. It also began
to make a university-wide contribution, recognizing that by playing a coopera-
tive role with other programs, it could gain strength and improve the institu-
tion as a whole."

A Soaring Reputation for Criminal Justice

Norman Rosenblatt, the Northeastern graduate who served as dean
of the College of Criminal Justice from 1969 to 1991, used to call the college
the "Harvard" of criminal justice, and that characterization continued to fit
through the Curry presidency. Says James Alan Fox, who was named dean af-
ter Rosenblatt stepped down, "We are the top program in New England, and
one of the top programs in the United States. We have a large, high-quality,
renowned criminal justice college."

The college was established in 1967 under President Asa Knowles
during a time of civil unrest that increasingly focused the nation's attention on
issues of law and justice.^^ Concerned with rising levels of violent crime, fed-
eral officials provided funds to help educate law enforcement professionals un-
der the Law Enforcement Assistance Act (LEAA). The Ford Foundation also
gave Northeastern a sizable grant for criminal justice education at the time.
The availability of such funds, along with the tenor of the times, helped spur
Northeastern to create the new college.

The early years were not without their rough spots. In the late 1960s
and early 1970s, student protestors railed against the college, at one point
charging that it was training "pigs" and should be "destroyed." ^^ In spite of
the antagonism, though, Rosenblatt directed the college to offer a broad lib-
eral education to criminal justice students, including courses in social sci-
ences, behavioral sciences, and the humanities,*'^ and also initiated a graduate
program. Eight years after its inception, the college had grown from 50 to
1,600 students.*^

Curry credits Knowles for his vision in supporting the college's crea-
tion, despite substantial resistance by some faculty who felt criminal justice
would best be kept as an arm of sociology. Adds Fox, "What Asa Knowles had
considered an experiment during the late 1960s — a college that was estab-
lished during a tumultuous time of student unrest, amidst the perception that

CHAPTER FIVE

it was going to be a further arm of the police — well, things have been more
successul than Asa Knowles could have imagined."

During the years Curry was president, the College of Criminal Justice
raised the quality of its students, maintained strong enrollments, and contin-
ued to draw top-flight researchers to its faculty ranks. It became increasingly
well-known thanks to media focus on some of its researchers, most notably
Fox himself, who had been a faculty member since 1977 and director of the

graduate school of criminal justice in 1990-91,
and then became dean in June 1991. The college
also kept up a long-standing tradition of working
closely with local law enforcement officials on a
variety of issues.

Its biggest problem, perhaps, was the
necessity of balancing two competing goals: that
of improving its student-faculty ratio and its
selectivity while at the same time keeping en-
rollments strong enough to help the university
through a period when enrollments were fall-
ing in other disciplines. With only 13 or 14 full-
time faculty members working through the early
1990s, and with the large number of criminal
justice majors, it was hard to keep class sizes
manageable, Fox says. Another issue was that
Fox's desire to create a doctoral program had to be put on hold because of lim-
ited resources.

Criminal justice college enrollments were more solid during the
Curry years than they had been through the 1980s. Federal money had stopped
flowing in 1978 when the LEAA program was ended, and, predictably enroll-
ments fell during the early 1980s. But as the 1990s approached, the numbers
went back up. In fall 1986, the college enrolled 211 new freshmen; by 1989, just
three years later, there were 320 new students and an overall undergraduate
student body of 1,130, up by 235 students during the same time period.^^' Po-
tential students showed strong interest in the criminal justice field, which was
expanding across the nation as widespread concern about crime led to the
building of new prisons, the hiring of more police officers, and the burgeon-
ing of the private security industry. Through the early and mid-1990s, the col-
lege's substantial national reputation also attracted a robust applicant pool, so
that it was able to greatly enhance selectivity By fall 1995, the college's accept-
ance rate was 81 percent, down from 94 percent in 1989, while the number of

James Fox became criminal
justice dean after longtime dean
Norman Rosenblatt stepped
down in 1991.

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undergraduates in the college remained constant at about 1,100.^^ At the
same time, SAT scores of entering freshmen jumped nearly 75 points.^^ Grad-
uate enrollments also rose,^^ particularly among full-time students, creating a
stronger sense of community in the graduate program.^''

For most criminal justice students, Fox says. Northeastern became
their first-choice school, because of both its "sterling" reputation and co-op.
Many Northeastern criminal justice graduates went on to work for local,
state, or federal government agencies; others progressed to law school or aca-
demic careers.

Research undertaken by the college faculty was widely publicized and
well respected. Faculty expertise ranged from serial murder, hate crimes, and
terrorism to policing, law, corrections, and security. One former professor,
John Laub, won three major awards — the so-called Triple Crown of criminol-
ogy— for coauthoring a 1995 book. Crime in the Making: Pathways and Turning
Points Through Life, a study of how criminal behavior evolves over the course
of an individual's life. Longtime professor Edith Flynn was known interna-
tionally for her expertise on corrections and terrorism and was widely quoted
on the subjects. Fox was best known for his work on serial and mass murders,
juvenile justice, capital punishment, and statistical methods in criminal jus-
tice research. A nationally recognized authority on homicide, he was featured
regularly on television and in newspapers and magazines, often with his col-
league in the sociology department, Jack Levin, also an expert on mass mur-
der, serial killings, and youth violence. In an April 1995 profile of Fox, USA To-
day went so far as to dub him the "Dean of Death" for being "arguably the
nation's foremost criminologist" and "certainly its most quoted." ^^ He was
also called on, time and again, to provide expert testimony and briefings for
Congress and the Clinton administration.

Curry knew well the benefits of such media attention. In 1995, he
called the college one of Northeastern's "jewel pieces." ^^ He says the college
had a good mix of research- and teaching-centered faculty who, "thanks to
Jamie's national exposure and reputation, were able to project a strong image."

Fox, in turn, credits Curry with proffering encouragement in several
key areas: promoting media visibility, building alumni relations, and helping
attract substantial external support to the college. Curry, in fact, made sev-
eral trips to visit potential supporters of the college. He accompanied Fox to
Memphis to visit Ira Lipman, president and chief executive officer of Guards-
mark, Inc., one of the nation's largest and fastest-growing protective security
companies; the relationship culminated in sizable donations that resulted in
an endowed chair for the college. Curry, along with trustee Robert Marini, also

CHAPTER FIVE

met with engineering alumnus Robert Brooks in St. Louis, president of Brooks
Fiber Properties, Inc., who eventually endowed a criminal justice professor-
ship to honor his parents' involvement with the Boston Police Department.
Moreover, Curry provided university support for the college's twenty-fifth an-
niversary celebration, which included a two-day conference on criminal justice
issues and featured a host of prominent speakers.

In academic circles, visibility was enhanced through the prestigious
Journal of Quantitative Criminology, which was established by Fox in 1985 and
which grew to become the premier publication in the field. The college was
also recognized for the contributions of its Center for Criminal Justice Policy
Research. Led by assistant professor John McDevitt, the center concentrated
on interdisciplinary public policy and social research issues in the fields of
criminal justice, public safety, social welfare, and education. Its personnel col-
laborated with government agencies and educational institutions to help im-
prove the criminal justice system. For instance, McDevitt and Fox cooperated
in aiding the Boston Police Department to develop a strategic plan; to identify
how hate crimes affect victims; and to overhaul its management practices fol-
lowing a Boston Globe series on police misconduct.

Indeed, helping criminal justice professionals in their work, both lo-
cally and nationally, evolved into a key aspect of the college's focus. In 1995,
Boston Police Commissioner Paul Evans told the Northeastern Voice, "Locally,
every public safety and criminal justice executive looks to the college for advice
and counsel on a very wide range of issues and concerns.'"'^

In another example of the college's work with criminal justice pro-
fessionals, Fox teamed up with criminal justice professor Paul Tracy to advise
the state attorney general on automobile insurance rate-setting and auto-body
fraud. Curry, too, maintained a strong connection with the Boston Police
through his work with the Boston Police Foundation, on which he served with
one of its founders. Northeastern graduate and trustee Robert Johnson, presi-
dent and chairman of First Security Services Corp. in Boston. To aid the foun-
dation's Youth at Risk program, aimed at steering inner-city teens toward pos-
itive activities, Curry offered free first-year tuition at Northeastern to those
who qualified, as well as summer work opportunities, career counseling, ath-
letic activities, and workshops.

The criminal justice college also continued its affiliation with the Jus-
tice George Lev^s Ruffin Society, an organization that aims to boost mutual
understanding between the minority community and criminal justice profes-
sionals and to promote the advancement of minorities in the criminal justice
field. During Curry's tenure, the society sponsored several convocations at

THE COLLEGES

Northeastern that drew hundreds from the criminal justice community to
hear about topics such as the use of deadly force, the impact of genetic engi-
neering on criminal justice, and alternative approaches to controlling crime.
The society also periodically sponsored courses to help prepare minorities for
the Boston Police promotional exam, with the result that many more minori-
ties were promoted within the department.^'*

The criminal justice college's strong ties to Boston institutions and or-
ganizations were beneficial both for the local community and for Northeast-
ern, which had a long tradition of offering advice and support to its neighbors.
And the college's other achievements during the Curry era — its grov^ in
size, reputation, and research — provided welcome doses of good news for a
university struggling through a difficult period and moving toward sustained
academic improvement.

Engineering Bolsters Research, Facilities

During the Curry presidency, the College of Engineering was on the
tail end of a decade-long enrollment decline that forced administrators and fac-
ulty members to take a hard look at how the college could reshape itself to win
back students. And the advances made in the early and mid-1990s were sub-
stantial. Faculty research improved in quality and quantity; a new state-of-the-
art research facility was built, and existing teaching and research labs were up-
graded; SAT scores of entering freshmen increased by almost 40 points; the
undergraduate curriculum was revamped; extra courses were developed to
help freshmen connect with the college and the university; and strengthened
fundraising efforts, deploying faculty to help win over potential donors,
brought millions of additional dollars to the college.

Research productivity in the College of Engineering figured as a high-
light of the Curry years. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, several long-
time professors, mostly in the electrical and computer engineering depart-
ment, emerged as top researchers in their fields. As a result, outside research
funding grew by nearly 40 percent between 1989 and 1996, from $6.6 million
to $10.7 million. Newer professors in the department also showed much
promise; 10 received awards for their research from the National Science
Foundation.^^

As both an engine and symbol of this rising research prominence,
a cutting-edge $30 million research facility opened in fall 1996, named the
Maureen and Richard J. Egan Engineering /Science Research Center, in honor

CHAPTER FIVE

of the Northeastern alumnus and trustee, and his wife, who donated $6.7 mil-
lion for the project.^^ The Egan Center was viewed as a strategic investment
that would help bolster future enrollments. It not only created advanced re-
search space for a number of highly specialized engineering groups but also
cast Northeastern in a much more favorable light to young professors consid-
ering starting their careers there and to potential students. Moreover, the cen-
ter and its dominant physical presence on campus underscored the notion

that Northeastern was solidly committed to its re-
search activities.

"The value of that building to the univer-
sity is hard to overestimate," says Paul King, who
served as engineering dean from 1985 to 1996.
Egan, chairman of EMC Corporation,
and his v^fe made the gift for the building out of
their pride in Northeastern and out of a desire
help the university produce more engineers and
scientists, "whom the country is lacking, and
whom EMC Corp. can't get enough of," Egan
says. They also wanted to show their appreciation
"for the wonderful job Jack did," he says.
The completion of the Egan Center and the upgrading of other fa-
cilities, research, teaching, student quality, student services, and fundrais-
ing were critical to rescuing the college from the crises of the late 1980s and
the first half of the 1990s, when the engineering college suffered a severe
enrollment downturn. The incoming freshman class dropped in size from
about 400 to 300 between fall 1989 and fall 1995, and the overall engineering
undergraduate student body shrank from nearly 2,100 to about 1,250.^^ And
those losses were only during the Curry era. Long before that, the college
had been experiencing enrollment troubles. At its peak during the early 1980s,
the college had been drawing incoming classes of more than 1,000, and its
undergraduate student body topped 4,100.^* Looking at the long-term pic-
ture, then, the size of the college fell by 70 percent over the 13-year period from
1982 to 1995.

Such a dramatic loss would have been painful for any unit, but it was
particularly hard for engineering, Northeastern's flagship college for decades.
Still, Northeastern's engineering college was not alone in dealing with enroll-
ment declines. Indeed, engineering schools around the country witnessed
deep losses from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s. National engineering en-
rollments dropped from 410,000 in 1982 to 328,000 in 1994.'''^ In addition to a

THE COLLEGES

shrinking nationwide pool of high school seniors, an economic downturn in
the manufacturing and business sector in the late 1980s and early 1990s —
which resulted in large-scale layoffs at hundreds of corporations — prompted
many students to turn away from engineering and business to law, liberal arts,
or other majors. Northeastern's losses were particularly severe, in part because
the numbers of high school seniors declined even more dramatically in Massa-
chusetts than they did in the rest of the United States. The number of engi-
neering degrees granted between 1987 and 1996 fell by roughly 14 percent
nationwide and by 35 percent in Massachusetts. ^^^ At the same time, the engi-
neering college rightly refused to compromise its admission standards, ren-
dering the enrollment drought even more dire.

Yet another factor contributing to declining enrollments was in-
creased competition. State schools like the University of Massachusetts at
Amherst and the University of Massachusetts at Lowell had grown in reputa-
tion and were offering engineering programs of their own far less expensive
than Northeastern's. In the meantime, Northeastern's tuition, like that of most
private universities, was increasing — sometimes at double-digit rates — de-
spite the fact that inflation hovered at around 4 percent during those years. ^*^^
Co-op wages, rising more slowly, covered a smaller percentage of the cost of
education, and federal and state scholarships and loans were decreasing.

Richard Scranton, associate engineering dean, puts it this way: "We
used to be a bargain-basement institution. But we were becoming a high-
priced institution, competing, in terms of price, with places like Rensselaer
[Polytechnic Institute] and Worcester [Polytechnic Institute]."

"The demographic drop in high school students, the fact that people
were turning away from engineering, the rise of state institutions in popular-
ity— it was all a triple whammy," says John CipoUa, chair of the university's
department of mechnical, industrial, and manufacturing engineering. "We
had always assumed that cooperative education, because it was such a strong
drawing card, was going to be our ace in the hole. It didn't work."

Faculty members also admit that the college's traditional offerings,
which initially ignored new thrusts in fields such as biomedical or environ-
mental engineering, along with the university's uneven reputation among
high school students and guidance counselors, also hurt enrollments. While
the engineering college had a strong reputation for many years, and although
the average SAT scores of entering freshmen climbed from 1033 to 1077 be-
tween 1989 and 1995, and to 1154 in 1996 according to the newly recentered
SAT scale,^°2 the college felt the brunt of the university's high acceptance rate
and the growing remedial programs in the 1980s.

CHAPTER FIVE

Yet the College of Engineering's image remained strong among local
industry leaders, faculty members say, because students who could not handle
the work either were not admitted or did not make it through to graduation,
and those who did were well qualified and thus performed well in the work-
place, both on co-op and after graduation. Alumnus and trustee Robert Marini,
who was chairman and chief executive officer of Camp Dresser & McKee
during Curry's presidency, says CD&M has always enjoyed a "tremendous ex-
perience" v^th the co-op students and Northeastern alumni it has hired. "The
students are bright and hard-working," he says.

Engineering students were also known for their contributions to im-
proving the quality of life in Boston, as demonstrated by the fact that North-
eastern's student chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers won nu-
merous awards for local building projects such as renovating a courtyard at a
low-income housing complex in Jamaica Plain, creating an outdoor recreation
area in Dorchester, and helping construct a playground in Boston. ^°^

Even if Northeastern graduates enjoyed a solid reputation in the out-
side world, the university still needed to focus on shoring up sagging enroll-
ments, not just for tuition dollars, but to justify maintaining a broad cadre of
faculty members who represented the source of the college's wide-ranging cur-
riculum as well as its strong research program.

To attract prospective students, the college dramatically increased the
number of its open houses, sponsored programs for high school guidance
counselors touting the strengths of Northeastern's engineering program, and
recruited students beyond the tiaditional New England market. Cooperative
education was promoted not as a tuition-reduction program but as a boost to
career prospects. Refashioned marketing pieces emphasized not just the high
quality of a Northeastern education but also the improved ambience of the
campus, with its new library and its emphasis on student services. In addition,
increased financial aid was provided for the college.

College officials also concentrated, more than ever before, on fresh-
men. In the early 1990s, the college began offering engineering courses to
freshmen for the first time, instead of in the sophomore year, as had been done
in the past. New one-credit courses intioduced students to engineering stud-
ies and to co-op. The idea behind these added courses was to interest students
in their chosen field of study and in the engineering college, and to help them
adjust and connect to college life at Northeastern. The college continued
its tiadition of strong teaching, with engineering professors Mark Evans,
Yiannis Levendis, and Mishac Yegian winning three out of the five university
Excellence in Teaching awards given in 1995.'°'^

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College officials also undertook fresh efforts to give special attention
to otherwise solid students whose physics and math skills were not up to par.
Richard Murphy, who served as associate dean through 1992, worked with fac-
ulty members from arts and sciences to keep tabs on students whose per-
formance in these courses put them at risk; in some cases, special sections
were set up to help the students grasp this difficult material.

The emphasis on supporting students during their first year was in-
novative for Northeastern and a dramatic change for the College of Engineer-
ing. As Scranton points out, engineering training, at Northeastern as well as
other engineering schools, had historically been rigorous, almost like boot
camp. Freshmen were expected to perform well in their first college-level
courses; if they didn't make it, they were out. "It wasn't a very humane ap-
proach," Scranton admits.

The refocus, though, reflected the recognition that "a first-quarter
freshman is really still a high school student, and we'd better help with the
transition," Scranton says. "The courses didn't change in quality, but we
changed the quality of the student's experience."

Dean King also endeavored to broaden the scope of students' under-
graduate background. Greater emphasis was placed on electives, less on over-
specialization. This move was made in response to national engineering
trends: in the late 1980s and early 1990s, graduates were more likely to be
working for startups instead of Fortune 500 companies, and to hold 7 to 10 jobs
over their hfetimes instead of 2 to 4.^"^

Enrollment losses, ironically, also enhanced the quality of the stu-
dents' experiences. In the early 1980s, when the engineering student popula-
tion was at its peak, class sizes had grown large and research slowed as pro-
fessors devoted much of their time to teaching. But as student numbers shrank,
class sizes became more manageable. The college was able to offer more labs,
more project-based courses, and increased individual student attention. Fac-
ulty members had more time to devote to both teaching and research.

These developments were in keeping with Curry's "smaller but bet-
ter" philosophy, and Curry and Baer pressed King to further that goal. When
hiring, King chose faculty members with a strong research orientation, not
only to bring new research dollars to Northeastern but also to raise its aca-
demic stature. During Curry's tenure. King says, there was "growing recogni-
tion that whatever status we were going to receive outside the region would
come from research activities." Curry did his part by approving funds to up-
grade labs for several engineering departments. The mechanical, industrial,
and manufacturing engineering department, in particular, made great strides

CHAPTER FIVE

with a much-needed overhaul of its basement lab in Forsyth, which converted
an aging space with an inadequate ventilation system into a state-of-the-art fa-
cility for students and faculty.

One example of the college's commitment to promoting research was
the creation in 1990 of the Center for Biotechnology Engineering, led by chem-
ical engineering professor Donald Wise.^°^ Designed to discover innovative
processes and products that address societal needs, the center focused on such
projects as developing a long-acting treatment for tuberculosis based on a
unique drug-delivery system pioneered by Wise, and synthesizing a road de-
icer without the corrosive and contaminating properties of salt.

At the same time the college launched the biotechnology center, it
celebrated the three-year anniversary of its Center for Communications and
Digital Signal Processing, one of the major research groups of its kind in the
nation and the only one in New England emphasizing both communications
and digital signal processing. ^°^ Driven by the work of about 15 affiliated fac-
ulty members, the center garnered between $1 million and $1.5 million a year
in outside funding and fostered close ties with industry. Led by electrical engi-
neering professors Chrysostomos Nikias and John Proakis, chair of electrical
and computer engineering, the center concentrated on speeding computer
communications networks in telecommunications, defense, aviation, naviga-
tion, manufacturing, and biomedicine.

Another of the university's major centers that continued to attract
significant external funds during the Curry years also had its roots in electri-
cal engineering. The Center for Electromagnetics Research (CER), established
in 1984 by electrical engineering professor Michael Silevitch, himself a North-
eastern graduate, researched topics such as ground-penetrating radar, mine
detection, electro-optics, plasmas, bioelectromagnetics, and other areas im-
portant to the electronics and aerospace industries.^"* The center brought in
close to $1 million every year between 1989 and 1996.^°''

Another key function of the center was to educate not just Northeast-
ern students but local high school students as well. In the first months of his
presidency, Curry appointed Silevitch special assistant to the president, and
the center began offering a six-week "Young Scholars" program, funded by the
National Science Foundation (NSF), for talented high school students inter-
ested in pursuing careers in science or engineering. Project SEED (Science
Education through Experiments and Demonstrations), also initiated in 1989
by Silevitch, CER colleague Christos Zahapoulos, and physics professor Alan
Crome, and supported by the NSF, aimed to help middle school science teach-
ers teach the basic concepts and principles of physical science using simple ex-
periments.'^^ In 1991, Silevitch created CESAME (Center for the Enhancement

100

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of Science and Mathematics Education), a similar project that sought to im-
prove education in math, science, and technology for elementary and second-
ary school children in Massachusetts by aiding teachers in devising fresh, in-
novative curricula. With Silevitch's help, Curry wanted to demonstrate that the
College of Engineering was a leader not only in improving secondary school
teaching but also in broadening the appeal of engineering as a profession for
young people.

Chung Chan, an electrical and computer engineering professor
who came to Northeastern in 1984 and whose research on plasma brought
in an average of $750,000 a year during Curry's presidency, was lauded for be-
ing "one of the world's foremost experts in plasma and one of the best scien-
tists I've met anywhere" by vice provost for research and graduate education
Norman Adler.^^^

The strength of electrical and computer engineering researchers gen-
erated outside recognition for the College of Engineering. In mid- 1991, the de-
partment was cited by the American Society for Engineering Education for
achievements in graduate programs and sponsored research. In a survey of
more than 200 institutions, Northeastern's electiical and computer engineer-
ing department ranked tenth nationally in the number of master of science de-
grees that were awarded in 1989-90. The department was also ranked among
the top 25 institutions nationally in terms of the dollar value of its contiact
research — second in New England only to the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology. ^^2

As testimony to the caliber of engineering research — particularly in
electrical and computer engineering — during Curry's tenure. King cites the
increasing number of full-time graduate students, a major development from
earlier years when most of the college's graduate courses were populated by
part-timers. "It's a statement of the enhanced research reputation of the uni-
versity that students would come here full-time to do research, as opposed to
getting a job and taking evening courses here toward a master's degree be-
cause we're convenient," he says, adding that students were also attracted be-
cause the increased level of research provided more money for assistantships.

Such commitment to research also paved the way, after Curry retired,
for the hiring of Albert Sacco, Jr., in 1997, considered a coup for Northeast-
ern. ^^^ Sacco came to the university after heading Worcester Polytechnic Insti-
tute's chemical engineering department and fresh from a NASA mission
aboard the space shuttle Columbia, where he conducted microgravity experi-
ments on crystal growth. Sacco 's move to Northeastern had been a major goal
for Curry and chemical engineering chair Ralph Buonopane, who met with
the astronaut several times near the end of Curry's presidency.

101

CHAPTER FIVE

Perhaps because research was flourishing, King and many engineer-
ing professors were often frustrated with the constraints on making new hires
in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Between 1985 and 1995 the college lost 21
faculty positions, or nearly 20 percent of its faculty.^^'^ The depletion of so many
faculty members was a serious problem, Cipolla says, because, in some cases,
as older faculty members retired, the college missed out on the opportunity to
bring in newly minted Ph.D.s from premier institutions, get them advanced

Efforts during the Curry administration led to the 1997 hiring of former astronaut Albert Sacco,
Jr., an expert in microgravity experiments, as a Northeastern chemical engineering professor.

on a research track, and thus further improve the college's funding level and
academic reputation. Still, the hiring freezes and midyear budget cuts of the
early and mid-1990s demanded conservative spending, and Curry insisted that
the engineering college in particular, with its significant loss of students, be
very selective with faculty hiring.

Nevertheless, King says the college's quality was never compromised
and ultimately enhanced, despite its reduced size. And he points out that one
budget-inspired move — to merge industrial engineering and mechanical en-
gineering to create the new mechanical, industrial, and manufacturing engi-
neering department in 1995 — presented the opportunity to make a change
that was both "financially and educationally appropriate."

102

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Another inspired move for the college was its acquisition of the
Lowell Institute, an evening technical program that had been run by the Mass-
achusetts Institute of Technology for 94 years and was known for offering low-
cost courses to community residents.^^^ The transfer was consummated by
Provost Baer in 1995, and the Institute opened its doors at Northeastern in
1996, thanks in part to gifts provided by trustee emeritus John Lowell. The In-
stitute's shifting to the university meshed well with the goals of the existing
School of Engineering Technology, boosted part-time enrollments, and con-
tinued an important community service.

The college also won a $5 million grant from the NSF in 1994 for
Northea stern's Comprehensive Center for Minorities, dedicated to supporting
science and engineering programs in the Boston public schools and preparing
students for college. The center was the brainchild of assistant dean David
Blackman, who had been working since 1975 to recruit students of color to
Northeastern and provide them with tutorial and scholarship assistance
through a program called NU Prime (NU Program in Multicultural Engineer-
ing). When Blackman began working at Northeastern, only 12 students of
color were enrolled in the college; by 1996, he counted more than 500 alumni
among his recruits. Blackman credits Curry with backing and encouraging his
work, and particularly with securing the $5 million grant.

Raising money from friends and graduates of the college also became
a substantial and highly successful activity for some faculty members, as
Curry promoted new ties between the university's professors and its profes-
sional fundraisers. King recalls that, when he first started at Northeastern,
little interaction occurred between the development office and the college.
"But that changed dramatically in the early 1990s," he says. "Faculty members
began to go out regularly and meet with [potential donors], accompanying both
Jack and development people. It had a major impact, because those who might
give could talk directly with those doing the research."

A handful of faculty members became heavily involved in fund-
raising, according to David Tompkins of Northeastem's development office.
As examples, Silevitch demonstrated sustained success in winning corpo-
rate funds for the Center for Electromagnetics Research, from companies
such as GTE Government Systems and Raytheon. Electrical engineering's
Proakis worked with development officials to help convince GTE Govern-
ment Systems to finance the work of his center for communications and
digital signal processing. And associate industrial engineering professor
Gerard Voland cooperated with business's Steven Kursh and co-op's Richard
Canale to win funding from the GE Foundation for a pilot study involving

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CHAPTER FIVE

Students working on real-time business/engineering problems identified by
co-op employers.

So, in spite of nagging problems with enrollments and budgets, the
College of Engineering made significant gains during the Curry years, espe-
cially in terms of new facilities, research, outreach to students, and improve-
ments in student quality. And, through it all, the college witnessed its national
research reputation grow, its co-op program thrive, and its graduates' success
in the real world remain undiminished and undisputed.

Law School Gains National Recognition

In fall 1988, a year before Jack Curry became Northeastem's president,
the university's School of Law had much to celebrate. It had been 20 years
since the school reopened following a 12-year hiatus. In 1956, the trustees had
discontinued the program — the university's longest-running — deeming the
money required to sustain it unwarranted given increasing competition from
other schools. But determined alumni lobbied to have the school return. Over
the next 20 years, the reinvented school nurtured a solid reputation as the
only co-op law program in the world and as a haven for those with a strong
commitment to public interest law. When the school first reopened, newly ap-
pointed dean Thomas O 'Toole wrote in an article in a 1967 law school news-
letter that cooperative legal education would present a "fundamental innova-
tion," and that the reinstituted law school would "develop a concern for those
numerous social problems of the metropolis for which the traditional re-
sponses of the law have been inadequate." ""^

Indeed, the strengths that O'Toole had predicted proved vital for years
to come, and, in the years of Curry's presidency, would propel the law school
even further on its path of excellence. Between 1989 and 1996, the school at-
tracted a diverse and talented group of new faculty members, increased the
size of its student body, began new initiatives aimed at improving urban life
through the law, and upgraded its facilities. It also continued to produce high
percentages of graduates committed to public interest work and to earn out-
side recognition for its unique qualities.

"The law school has always been noted for its commitment to public
interest and the co-op program and the terrific students it attracted," says
Daniel Givelber, a faculty member since 1969 and dean of the law school from
1984 to 1993.

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THE COLLEGES

The law school was more fortunate than Northeastem's other colleges
during the financial crisis of the early 1990s, thanks in part to an expansion
agreement between Givelber and Curry made in the late 1980s when Curry
was executive vice president. Under the terms of the agreement, Givelber
promised to boost law school enrollments if Curry would provide funds to hire
more faculty members and renovate and upgrade the law school's facilities,
particularly its library. When Northeastern faced the steep enrollment declines
of the early 1990s and Curry called for university-wide belt-tightening, he
stuck with his previous commitment, so the law school escaped the severe cut-
backs faced by other academic units.

Givelber says Curry's decision was sound: as a result of the law
school's expansion, the school generated more revenue for the university than
ever before in its history.

The expansion boosted the law school's enrollment from 500 to 600
students in the early 1990s. At the same time, the school maintained its high
selectivity, accepting only between 25 and 35 percent of applicants during the
years of the Curry presidency. Also, the school hired nine new faculty mem-
bers between 1989 and 1992, a diverse group that included five women and
four people of color. Givelber says the hiring not only responded to growing
enrollments but also injected fresh perspectives and renewed energy as the
established faculty aged and recently adopted legal doctrines made revamped
courses essential. Significantly, each of the new faculty hires went on to be-
come tenured.

Law school facilities were also dramatically improved in the early
1990s. For years the law school had shared the Knowles building with the Col-
lege of Criminal Justice; under the expansion plan, criminal justice moved to
Churchill Hall and the law school took over all of Knowles. The library, with
inadequacies that had been cited in an earlier accreditation review, was reno-
vated and enlarged."^

The law school also broadened its academic and clinical programs. As
new faculty members introduced additional areas of expertise, the law school
developed strength in international law and enhanced the specialfies of gov-
ernment regulation and labor law. The school became widely regarded for its
focus on artificial intelligence and the law, thanks to a new journal on the sub-
ject begun in 1990 and coedited by the law school's Donald Berman and com-
puter science's Carole Hafner.

The work of other faculty members also conferred benefits on stu-
dents and brought outside recognition for the law school. Clare Dalton, who

105

CHAPTER FIVE

had come to Northeastern from Harvard in 1988, spearheaded an effort to pro-
vide legal advocacy for battered women in the local community and to keep the
issue of domestic violence at the top of the law school's agenda. The Domestic
Violence Advocacy Project, an innovative clinical program begun in 1991, en-
abled law students, under the aegis of a faculty adviser, to counsel women in
various community settings, such as Dorchester District Court and Boston
Medical Center's emergency department.

This work did not go unnoticed; in 1992, the Domestic Violence Ad-
vocacy Project received a three-year, $220,000 grant from the U.S. Department
of Education to help expand the clinic and another $245,000 in 1994. Dalton
won yet more funding for the project in 1994 from Harvard Law School, which
agreed to pay $260,000 to help bolster the effort as part of a legal settlement
with Dalton, who had successfully sued Harvard in 1987 for gender discrimi-
nation in denying her tenure bid. Even after Curry's retirement, the project
(which had been renamed the Domestic Violence Institute) continued to at-
tract the attention of outside funding agencies: it received a $2.5 million, three-
year grant in 1997 from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
to combat domestic violence in Dorchester.

Outside funds also helped boost the law school's Tobacco Control Re-
source Center, a national research clearinghouse initiated in 1979 to provide
tobacco policy information to government officials, health insurers, and pub-
lic interest groups throughout the country. In 1995, the National Cancer Insti-
tute gave the resource center $950,000 to assist in identifying successful legal
strategies to limit tobacco use. Directing the center through the Curry years
was law professor Richard Daynard, who had become the center's president in
1983 and who, the follov^ng year, had founded the Tobacco Products Liability
Project, a group of doctors, academics, and lawyers working to establish the
legal responsibility of the tobacco industry for tobacco-induced disease, dis-
ability, and death. Through the Curry years and beyond, Daynard was fre-
quently quoted in the media on his antitobacco work, enhancing not only the
academic reputation of the law school but of Northeastern as a whole.

In 1993, Givelber decided to return to teaching after nine years as
dean and was succeeded by David Hall, a professor and administrator at the
law school since 1985. Chosen from a field of 25 after a four-month national
search. Hall was the school's first African-American dean, as well as the uni-
versity's first African- American dean of a school or college since nursing's
Juanita Long retired in 1988. Hall assumed the deanship with a plan to estab-
lish an urban law institute to serve as a clearinghouse for ideas and policies

106

THE COLLEGES

related to urban living. He said at the time: "A law school should not be just
about helping students. It should also be about helping society grapple with its
most pressing problems." "^

Hall's concept was a perfect fit not only with the law school's
longstanding commitment to public service but with the university's strate-
gic plan, which called for strengthening urban connections. When the Urban
Law and Public Policy Institute was launched shortly after Hall's appoint-
ment, it proceeded to forge a partnership among
academics, community activists, and govern-
ment representatives to develop solutions to ur-
ban problems through legislation and new com-
munity programs. Initiated with $25,000 in seed
money from the university, the institute later re-
ceived a $1.6 million grant in 1995 from the U.S.
Department of Education's Urban Community
Service Program to further its work of empower-
ing the local community and helping prevent ur-
ban violence. ^^^

The activities of the urban law institute,
,1 , r 1 1 1 1, 1- • 1 Law school dean David Hall

as well as those oi the law school s clmics, took a

leap forward in 1995 when these units found a new home at Columbus Place,
a newly renovated office building on Columbus Avenue. Before the move, the
law school had no space dedicated to clinical work; some students had worked
out of Jamaica Plain Legal Services, in conjunction with Harvard's program
there; others had conferred with clients in the offices of faculty members, for
lack of a better place. When the refurbished Columbus Place facility opened,
the law school was able to discontinue its shared arrangement with Harvard
and to provide a law office -like setting where students could meet v^th their
faculty advisers and clients. "With the move to Columbus Place, we came into
the twentieth century in regard to clinical space," says Hall.

Students in the law school continued their dedication to public inter-
est law during the Curry years, as they had through the 1970s and 1980s. The
law school supported such work through a liberal loan-forgiveness and loan-
deferral program made possible by a $300,000 grant from the Stride Rite
Charitable Foundation, headed by Northeastern trustee Arnold Hiatt.^^° The
loan program was a component of the Fund for the Public Interest, first
launched in 1988 with Hiatt's help. Northeastern law graduates, on average,
went into public interest work at a rate of about 15 percent, five times the

107

CHAPTER FIVE

national average. Many others joined small firms committed to pro bono work.
And, in every year between 1989 and 1996, Northeastern law students won
prestigious public interest fellowships, amid stiff competition, from the New
York law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, which awarded fund-
ing for graduates to provide legal services to the poor, disabled, homeless, el-
derly, or those deprived of their civil or human rights.

The law school's focus on human rights and public service was also

evident in its choice of speakers and
honorary degree recipients for its an-
nual May commencement ceremo-
nies. Speakers included such well-
known and highly regarded legal
experts as Harvard Law School pro-
fessor Derrick Bell; legal affairs corre-
spondent for National Public Radio
Nina Totenberg; and New York col-
umnist and First Amendment advocate
Nat Hentoff Honorary degrees were
awarded to, among others. Kip Tier-
nan, founder of the Boston women's
shelter, Rosie's Place; South African
poet Dennis Brutus; and U.S. repre-
sentative John Lewis, a key player in the
struggle for civil rights.

For its public interest orienta-
tion, for its diverse faculty and student
population, and for its co-op and clini-
cal programs, the law school received
ongoing recognition during the Curry
years. In 1991, U.S. News 8[ World Re-
port rated Northeastern's law school fourth in the country in clinical training,
ranking behind only New York University, Georgetown, and Harvard.^^^ In
1994, the National Jurist magazine named Northeastern the country's best
public interest law school. ^^^ The publication also ranked Northeastern second
for the number of its women faculty and, in 1995, third best in the country for
women.'^^ In 1996, the Princeton Review rated Northeastern number one for
quality of student life. Favorable articles about the law school also appeared in
both the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. The Journal cited the urban

The law school's commitment to human
rights and public service was reflected in its
choice of commencement speakers, such as
Northeastern alumnus Nat Hentoff, a New
York columnist and First Amendment
advocate.

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THE COLLEGES

law institute as a "vivid symbol" of the law school's insistence on "imbuing stu-
dents with a keen sense of ethics, justice, and a lav^er's obligation to society." ^'^^
In sum, the law school's strong faculty, its close work with students,
its highly praised co-op program, and its solid national connections and repu-
tation contributed not just to its students' growth and professionalism but to
Northeastem's growing academic stature as well.

Nursing Emerges as Leader
IN Community Health Care

During the years of Jack Curry's presidency at Northeastern, the Col-
lege of Nursing was, quite literally, transformed. In the early and mid-1990s, it
established itself as a nationally recognized leader in community-based nurs-
ing education, thus keeping in step with national trends toward shorter hos-
pital stays and more comprehensive community-based health care. The col-
lege also gained a firm foothold in graduate education, creating several new
programs dedicated to training nurses for more leadership roles in the quickly
changing health care industry. And the combination of program enhance-
ments and an evolving marketplace led to a threefold jump in enrollments,
while SAT scores of incoming students improved
by nearly 80 points.

Says Eileen Zungolo, who became nurs-
ing dean in September 1989, "[Northeastern chief
financial officer] Bob Culver used to call the Col-
lege of Nursing the little school that can, because
we were always trying to think of new ideas."

Zungolo, who had been an associate
dean of nursing at the University of Illinois at Chi-
cago, came to Northeastern at an opportune time.
The College of Nursing had just come off of a
steep, decade-long drop in undergraduate enroll-

4. c (\r A ■ innn^ -, r -> ■ ir>on J r Nursing dean Eileen Zungolo

ments, from 964 m 1979 to 363 m 1989, a dechne

that occurred as different, better-paying job opportunities for women sent
many would-be nursing students into other fields. ^^^ The health care industry
was also changing, requiring more extensive education for nurses, forcing the
nursing college to discard its associate and certificate programs and consider
offering graduate programs to complement its baccalaureate degrees. Boston

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CHAPTER FIVE

University's decision to close its School of Nursing offered Northeastern the
chance to take over a nationally known graduate program and presented the per-
fect opportunity for the college to expand. Curry brokered the deal in 1988 when
he was executive vice president.

The graduate program began in September 1989 as the largest of its
kind in New England and ultimately achieved much success. It consisted of
four options: acute care, primary care, psychology/mental health, and commu-
nity health.^^'' Within a year, an option in nursing administration was added.^^''
Other new master's programs were instituted throughout the mid-1990s, in-
cluding a nurse anesthesia program; an RN-MS degree for experienced regis-
tered nurses wishing to advance their training beyond either hospital-based
preparation or an associate's degree; and a joint program in nursing and busi-
ness administration. The graduate programs were popular and consistently
had to turn applicants away. Within six years, graduate enrollments alone
nearly tripled, soaring from 125 in fall 1989 to 342 in fall 1995.^^^ Stxidents
were attracted to the program in part because of Northeastem's location near
major medical centers and in part for its focus on training nurses for leader-
ship roles. To handle the influx of students, several new tenure-track faculty
members were hired through the early and mid-1990s, and the number of
part-time teachers more than tripled. ^^^

While the college remade itself by offering graduate education for the
first time, a more significant transformation occurred with nursing's entry
into the community health arena. This transition proved a powerful accelerant
for the college's growth and for its reputation around the country.

The college's redirection dates to 1991, after Northeastern, collaborat-
ing with six local partners including Boston University's School of Medicine,
the Boston Department of Health and Hospitals, and four community health
centers, was awarded a $6 million, five-year grant from the W K. Kellogg Foun-
dation. The grant, which helped establish the Center for Community Health
Education, Research, and Service (CCHERS), coordinated by associate nurs-
ing professor Patricia Meservey, was directed at improving community health
care by establishing clinical training sites for student doctors and nurses at lo-
cal centers. ^^"^

Getting the Kellogg grant was a coup for Northeastern, says Zungolo.
Competition had been stiff: of the 126 medical schools in the country at the
time, 117 responded to Kellogg's request for grant proposals. Of that group,
15 finalists were announced, including Northeastern. When those finahsts
were summoned by Kellogg to a meeting in Atlanta, each college president was

THE COLLEGES

asked to attend; Curry traveled there with Zungolo to help persuade founda-
tion officials to choose Northeastern for the grant. "From the outset, from the
kickoff event in Atlanta to subsequent site visits, Jack v^as there," Zungolo re-
calls. "He came to every meeting." Ultimately, Northeastern was one of just six
awardees named around the country.

The benefits the grant brought to Northeastern were substantial. By
supporting the work of nursing students in community settings, the grant
helped the College of Nursing become a campus leader in urban outreach,
thus fulfilling one of the university's long-standing missions and a special con-
cern of Curry's. Student nurses sent to work in local health centers remained
at that same site for each of their clinical courses so that a firm bond with
clients could be established. The results of those relationships have been ap-
parent from year to year at spring nursing convocations, held the day before
graduation. "They get as many people from the neighborhoods coming as they
do friends and family," Zungolo says.

Northeastern succeeded in winning more grants from Kellogg
in the mid-1990s, all aimed at furthering community health education. A
1995 grant for $1 million, awarded to the nursing college, Brigham & Wom-
en's Hospital, and the Maurice J. Tobin School in Roxbury, aided in estab-
lishing a program in which Boston elementary and high school students
were taught about opportunities in the health professions and encouraged
to prepare for careers in those fields. ^^^ In 1996, Northeastern and its
CCHERS partners received a matching grant of $1.8 million to set up gradu-
ate community-based clinical education to complement the undergraduate
programs already in place. "^

By 1995, the college had revamped its undergraduate curriculum to
reflect a stronger concentration on community health education, to match
more closely the clinical programs. At the same time, nursing faculty achieved
increasing national prominence in the field through publications and presen-
tations. "The faculty developed an expertise in this area," says Zungolo. "The
focus on community health education gave the faculty the platform from
which to dive into a national arena."

Nursing educators outside Northeastern began to consult with the
College of Nursing for advice as they sought to establish community-based
health education programs of their own. In 1995, Carol Lindemann, who was
then president of the National League for Nursing and nursing dean at the
Oregon Health Science Center in Portland, said, "Northeastern is at the cut-
ting edge of looking at community-focused care. We are all looking at what is

111

CHAPTER FIVE

happening [at Northeastern] to help us understand the kinds of changes that
might need to be made in our own curricula and programs." ^^^

Just as it garnered national attention for its community health pro-
grams, the College of Nursing progressed in other areas. For example, another
research project, conducted by Anne Hurley, a researcher at the Alzheimer's
Center at the Bedford Veterans Administration Hospital, and Northeastern's
Mary Anne Gauthier, studied several aspects of Alzheimer's disease, includ-

In 1995, nursing student Elsie Jean-Mary, left, practices taking blood pressure on fellow student
Julie Houskeeper at Dorchester's Little House Health Center, as part of the nursing college's
focus on community health education.

ing care delivery, training for caregivers, and devising a national approach
to disseminating information and generating new research. '^"^ Hurley and
Gauthier's joint research was representative of the college's effort to build part-
nerships with outside professionals.

The college also received a substantial grant from the Sherman Fair-
child Foundation, which included on its board William Elfers, Northeastern
trustee emeritus and former chair of the university's board of overseers. The
$250,000 grant, established in the name of Elfers's v^fe, Ann Rice Elfers,
funded undergraduate scholarships in the college. ^^^ Other gifts came from
trustee Ernest Henderson and his wife Mary Louise, who provided funding for

112

THE COLLEGES

the college's Summer Institute in Community-Based Nursing Education,
which offered faculty development programs to assist more than 150 nursing
educators in creating community-based curricula at their institutions.

On a sad note, popular longtime teacher Nancy Walden died of can-
cer in 1994. After her death, an additional pathway and a handicapped access
ramp were installed at Robinson Hall and named for Walden, who had used a
wheelchair during her illness and had served as a forceful advocate for those
with disabilities.

While the College of Nursing achieved many gains during Curry's
presidency, the most significant was its emergence as a nationally known
leader in community health education. "The College of Nursing," says Zun-
golo, "moved from being a very respectable place to earn your undergraduate
education to being a centerpiece for the whole community-based nursing ed-
ucation movement in the country."

University College Branches Out

Considering that University College was the undisputed leader of
adult education in the Boston area for close to 30 years, the period from 1989
to 1996, during which enrollments dropped
sharply, was a difficult one — both financially
and philosophically. University College officials
watched with concern, beginning in the early
1980s, as competitors made forays into adult ed-
ucation, at a time when declining undergraduate
enrollments drove many colleges and universi-
ties to search for new markets. John Jordan, who
had come to University College as dean in 1978
and who served through mid-1997, describes the
early and mid-1990s as "a real challenge."

Still, while University College's enroll-
ments fell by a dramatic 23 percent during Curry's
presidency, the college continued to generate
much-needed revenue for the university, thanks to low overhead and regular
tuition increases. The part-time division also achieved gains in a handful of
notable areas. Its downtown satellite campus expanded; more suburban cam-
puses were opened; and overseas programs were established. Very importantly,

University College dean John
Jordan

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CHAPTER FIVE

the Alternative Freshman Year program, which offered intensive training in
writing and math for students who didn't immediately qualify for entry into
one of the basic colleges, was reduced in size and became much more selec-
tive. And the continuing education division, offering nondegree programs for
working professionals, maintained strong enrollments in several key areas
and proved itself a leader in broadcasting live classes, via satellite, directly to
company work sites.

University College's early years were all about growth. The division
was established by President Knowles in July 1960 after it became dear that
Northeastern's full-time College of Business Administration would not receive
accreditation if it were affiliated with evening business programs taught by
part-time faculty. Thus the evening business programs were split from the
business college and joined instead with the university's other part-time pro-
grams to form University College. But the idea of a new evening division also
responded to the increasing national demand for adult education programs
and provided a chance to upgrade the status of the part-time programs."''

With its open admissions policy and the growing demand for adult
education. University College attracted ever-greater numbers of students. It
opened in 1960 with 4,000 students and 300 part-time faculty; by 1975, the end
of Knowles's 16-year term as president, enrollments stood at 12,000, taught by
700 part-time faculty. Such growth was due in no small part to Knowles's
vision in establishing a network of satellite campuses in the greater Boston
area to ensure working people easy access to education without the hassles of
inner-city traffic and parking."^

University College enrollments reached a peak of 14,000 in 1980
during the Ryder administration,"^ but as the 1980s progressed, several forces
coalesced to diminish those enrollments. Part-time criminal justice enroll-
ments dropped after 1978, when the federal government cut fiinds that had
been available for continuing education courses for police officers."^ In 1981,
another accreditation issue — this time with University College's ov^na busi-
ness programs — forced the college to alter its business curriculum, increase
the involvement of full-time business faculty members in its programs, boost
entrance requirements, and limit the locations where courses could be offered.
These changes were accomplished, but they resulted in a 12 percent enroll-
ment drop.^'^" After that, enrollments continued their downward slide until
Curry's presidency, when the numbers began to fall even more sharply. Uni-
versity College's headcount, which stood at 10,700 at the beginning of Curry's
presidency, decreased to 7,500 by 1996.^"^^

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THE COLLEGES

Enrollment declines of the early 1990s were propelled partly by fewer
people under age 30 seeking part-time education, ^^^^ but also by increasing
competition in the continuing education marketplace. The University of
Massachusetts-Boston and other public colleges, as well as Boston Univer-
sity, Harvard, and smaller colleges like Babson, Bentley, Cambridge, Eastern
Nazarene, Emmanuel, Lesley, Suffolk, Wheelock — all were expanding part-
time operations, often offering less expensive tuition than Northeastern's, as,
in many cases, their own full-time enrollments stalled.

The recession in New England played a major part, too, as people lost
their jobs, particularly in the engineering and financial services sectors, and as
companies became stricter about providing tuition reimbursement. To offset
the losses, Jordan proposed offering more part-time graduate programs — as
some of Northeastern's competitors were doing — to an increasingly aging
cohort of potential students who were often already armed with associate's
and bachelor's degrees. But that option was untenable because it threatened to
duplicate, or even compete with, the part-time graduate programs run by the
day colleges.

Despite the enrollment losses, University College remained the
number one program in the area and a strong contributor to university
coffers at a time when those funds were sorely needed. Because it paid work-
ing professionals to teach on a per course basis, it could cut underenrolled
courses as necessary without having to continue to pay professors' sala-
ries. Tuition increases helped offset losses as well. Throughout Curry's pres-
idency, University College generated between about $11.5 million and $12.5
million each year to help Northeastern through the most difficult period in
its history. ^"^^

University College's dov^mtown Boston campus provided another
bright spot for the part-time division. Northeastern had first moved into the
financial district in 1985 with its Liberty Square campus, offering mostly busi-
ness, liberal arts, and computer classes. The venture was so prosperous that,
in 1994, Curry and treasurer Robert Culver found a new, high-class home for
the downtown campus at 89 Broad Street, nearly tripling its size to 23,000
square feet.^^^ University College associate dean Kenneth Solano says the
downtown campus has been Northeastern's most successful off-site location,
generating roughly $1.5 million in revenue each year. Other off-site locations
established during Curry's presidency — at the Maiden, Stoneham, and Win-
chester high school campuses — did not fare so well; after several years, de-
clining enrollments forced the closing of each of these sites.

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CHAPTER FIVE

To counterbalance the troubles in New England, University College
cast its net far beyond the Boston suburbs by opening a campus in Cairo,
Egypt. The Egypt partnership, set up in 1996 with the Rajac Institution in
Cairo, enabled University College to offer full-time degree programs in liberal
arts and English, making Northeastern the only U.S. university to offer bach-
elor's degrees in the Middle East.^'*^ Continuing through the Curry adminis-
tration was another overseas program that had begun in the Ryder years, an

In 1994, the size of University College's downtown campus nearly tripled with its relocation to
89 Broad Street.

EMT/paramedic program in Dublin. Also on the international front. Univer-
sity College helped broker a deal in 1996 that led to a Bouve graduate program
in applied educational psychology being offered at Israel College in Tel Aviv
University College also initiated new graduate offerings locally: two
certificate programs, one in human resources management and another in
banking and financial services, both aimed at tapping older part-time learn-
ers. Undergraduate programs in biological sciences and in international
politics, culture, and trade were also launched in this period. During the
Curry years. University College offered, in total, roughly 35 bachelor's pro-
grams, about 15 associate's programs, and between 40 and 50 certificate or

116

THE COLLEGES

special programs that changed from year to year, depending on the demands
of the marketplace.

Particularly significant to overall developments at Northeastern
were changes instituted in the early 1990s to University College's Alterna-
tive Freshman Year program (renamed the School of General Studies in 1997).
The remedial day program was initiated by Curry himself in the mid-1970s,
when he was dean of admissions. But the program had mushroomed to the
point where, by the start of Curry's presidency in fall 1989, enrollments stood
at 651 — 17 percent of all incoming students. While the program had dove-
tailed nicely for many years with Northeastern's mission of access, in that it of-
fered a chance at college to many students who might not otherwise have had
it, its very grov^h set it on a collision course with Curry's vision of a smaller,
better Northeastern. The higher acceptance rate and lower admissions stan-
dards of the Alternative Freshman Year program damaged the reputation for
academic quality of the rest of the university in the eyes of guidance coun-
selors, prospective students, and their parents. Faculty members, too, com-
plained that accepting so many students in need of help was a drag on aca-
demic quality because it was creating too great a disparity among students in
the classroom.

So, when Curry and the trustees' special committee on enrollments,
led by Neal Finnegan, moved in spring 1991 to reduce Northeastern's enroll-
ments in order to boost quality — and thus the university's image with high
school guidance counselors and the general public — it was determined that
Alternative Freshman Year enrollments had to be held in check. The numbers
bore out that new policy: enrollments in the program dropped by more than
100 by fall 1990, and continued to be pared down until, by fall 1996, there were
only 381 incoming freshmen — a 40 percent drop in seven years. At the same
time, average SAT scores for Alternative Freshman Year students went up
from 848 in fall 1989 to 909 in fall 1996, and even higher after that.^^^

From Jordan's perspective, the critical issue was that the program
continued to exist. "This program gave some kids a real opportunity to go
to school," he says. "And there are endless numbers of success stories out of
that program."

Another effort to help students derived from a program called "The
Write Place," aimed at sharpening students' writing skills throughout Univer-
sity College. The program was initiated by associate dean Marilyn Wiener, af-
ter trustee Ernest Henderson asked Curry if there was some way to improve
the teaching of writing at Northeastern. Writing courses were overhauled, and

117

CHAPTER FIVE

writing exercises and activities were infused into all sorts of courses, even
math. The program earned kudos both inside and outside the university.

Also earning outside recognition was University College's faculty de-
velopment program, begun in the early 1980s, which offered about a dozen
workshops each year to help faculty members improve their teaching. For a
faculty composed mainly of working professionals — executives, scientists, au-
thors, health workers, law enforcement officers, artists, graphic designers,
computer experts, lawyers — the program made a lot of sense. In 1990, the pro-
gram won an award for innovation and creativity from the New England re-
gion of the National University Continuing Education Association. ^'^^

Another bright spot for University College came from its Division of
Continuing Education, which offered noncredit professional development
courses in a handful of areas, most notably its flagship state-of-the-art en-
gineering program. During Curry's presidency, the division's revenues grew
steadily from $5.8 million in 1989-90 to $6.7 million in 1995-96, as did its
net contribution to the university, which rose from $1.3 million to $2.5 million
during that period. ^'^^

The division, which had originated in 1963 as a unit of University
College, had become independent in 1986, with its executive director, Ray-
mond Williams, reporting directly to then -executive vice president Curry. At
that time it was paired with Network Northeastern, a nascent unit that broad-
cast live courses directly to company sites in the Boston area, via satellite and
microwave transmission. Pairing the two similar components created a more
efficient and cost-effective marketing and management structure. ^'^^

Despite the economic downturn of the early 1990s, the division was
nimble enough to increase overall revenues by either expanding or shrinking
programs according to market demands. Programs offered included environ-
mental science and regulatory management, building design and construc-
tion, insurance and financial services, paralegal training, urban and mass
transportation management, and test preparation.

In 1991, the Division of Continuing Education launched its Center for
Family Business, which proved successful in running educational forums and
meetings aimed at exploring issues unique to family businesses. '^'^ Two years
later, the division celebrated its thirtieth anniversary with a dinner featuring
Massachusetts governor William Weld, who declared 1993 "the year of contin-
uing education for the professional." ^^^ Curry also spoke, hailing the division
as "the most entrepreneurial, most adaptive, and most responsive professional
development program in New England."

118

THE COLLEGES

The solidity of the continuing education division provided a welcome
boost for University College in the early and mid-1990s. The part-time divi-
sion's other successful efforts — the overseas programs, the booming down-
tov^Ti campus, the bolstering of the university's primary developmental pro-
gram, and its continuing high profits — all helped guide University College
unbowed if not unscathed through a difficult period in its history. Indeed, it is
fair to say that University College bore the heaviest burden in ensuring the
success of Northeastern's transformation during the Curry years.

119

Biology major

Justi Santana — with

friends — on co-op at

the New England

Aquarium in 1996.

CHAPTER SIX

For Cooperative Education, a Time of Change

In 1994, JACK CURRY STOOD before a crowd of hundreds — top
leaders in government, business, and education — to expound the merits of co-
operative education. He was halfway across the world from Huntington Av-
enue, in Jakarta, Indonesia, at a government-sponsored meeting aimed at ini-
tiating co-op programs at Indonesian universities. The following year, Curry
addressed another attentive crowd, this time in Kingston, Jamaica, at the bi-
ennial meeting of the World Association for Cooperative Education, of which
he had been named president the previous August.^ Again, he spoke of co-op
to an enthusiastic audience. Offering the keynote address was Robert Marini,
chairman and chief executive officer of Camp Dresser & McKee, a Northeast-
ern trustee and graduate and an equally strong advocate of the benefits of a
co-op education. These represented proud moments for Northeastern, which
enjoyed a stellar reputation internationally for being the world leader in coop-
erative education.

"We were warmly received around the globe," recalls Curry. "There
was great receptivity for cooperative education and for Northeastern's leader-
ship in the co-op field."

Indeed, during the Curry years Northeastern advanced the cause of
cooperative education in locales ranging from Indonesia and Jamaica to Ire-
land, New Zealand, Malaysia, and Egypt. The university's ever-growing inter-
national reputation helped its own pioneering international co-op program
flourish. At the same time. Northeastern sustained its long-standing efforts to
promote co-op in the United States.

On campus, Northeastern's co-op program — its success in dealing
with students, its internal organization, its educational value, the status of
its faculty members — came under close scrutiny The detailed examination

121

CHAPTER SIX

of co-op followed years of questions about co-op's role and effectiveness. And
the scrutiny led to the implementation of significant changes designed to clar-
ify the role of co-op faculty, to enhance co-op's benefits for students, and to ad-
dress management and personnel issues within the co-op department.

"As the university moved toward its 'smaller but better' ideal, it be-
came critical to reexamine co-op, even though our 1987 and 1990 surveys of
undergraduates clearly showed that students were very much satisfied with
this part of their education," Curry says. "Changes had occurred in co-op —
such as the growing disparity between tuition levels and co-op wages — that
necessitated an increased emphasis on simply doing co-op better."

izliven as cooperative education, and by extension. Northeastern itself,
was emerging ever more prominently on the world stage, profound questions
about the university's own co-op program began to surface before and during
the Curry years.

Not that co-op hadn't been successfiil. In July 1991, a Northeastem
University Magazine article enumerated some impressive statistics about the
co-op program. In 1990, for example, more than 2,200 employers had paid
some $80 million to Northeastern students on co-op assignments.^ For
years, the hard work of the co-op faculty and the professional staff in devel-
oping new jobs helped students secure co-op jobs with a long list of high-
profile employers — IBM, General Electric, EMC Corporation, Brigham &
Women's Hospital, the Boston Globe, and a wide array of state and federal gov-
ernment agencies, to name a few. Northeastern operated the country's only
research center on co-op, compiling statistics on co-op programs nationally
and serving as a clearinghouse for co-op research. And Northeastern had long
played a major role in promoting the establishment of co-op programs at
hundreds of universities locally, nationally and internationally As of 1991,
more than 275,000 students in 30 countries were participating in some sort of
co-op program.

Still, some troubling questions about Northeastern's co-op depart-
ment— the major unit within the Division of Cooperative Education, respon-
sible for job development, student counseling, and job placement — had
grown more insistent over the years. The truth was that as Northeastern had
been transforming itself from primarily a teaching institution to a research
university, the co-op department had, in some senses, been left behind.

122

FOR COOPERATIVE EDUCATION, A TIME OF CHANGE

There were several issues. One of the most significant was faculty sta-
tus and tenure eligibility for co-op faculty members, also known as co-op co-
ordinators. Through the 1980s and into the 1990s, tenure requirements for ac-
ademic faculty members had grown more stringent — solid research had to be
performed, books had to be written, scholarship had to be documented —
while requirements for co-op faculty members were perceived by Board of
Trustees members to have remained the same. When President Knowles first
granted tenure to co-op coordinators. Northeastern was still a local teaching
institution. But as the university began to remake itself into a more scholarly,
national institution and to employ recently recruited, highly qualified faculty
members who assumed, rightly, that they would have to prove themselves as
scholars and researchers, as well as highly proficient teachers, to be awarded
tenure, questions arose as to the fairness of offering tenure to faculty who
hadn't proved themselves in the same way.

"These new faculty members, primarily v^th doctorates, set an en-
tirely different set of standards for the attainment of faculty rank and tenure,"
recalls Karl Weiss, who served as interim vice president for cooperative educa-
tion from 1989 to 1991.

"There was a sea change in the maturation of academics at North-
eastern," Curry adds. "The disparity between the qualifications offered by the
co-op faculty and the rest of the faculty was so noticeable that there was bound
to be this collision. The trustees began to express concern about this issue and
asked the administration to study it carefully."

In addition, some academic faculty members, especially those in
arts and sciences, were questioning the value of co-op, sometimes viewing
it as a hindrance to the delivery of a solid liberal arts education. "Some looked
at co-op as a vocational thrust to the university that in many ways was
dragging us down," says Jane Scarborough, vice president for cooperative
education from 1991 to 1994. "But I think that most students who came
here, including students attending the College of Arts and Sciences, came
in large part because of this idea of combining practical learning with
the classroom."

A related issue, Scarbrough says, was that while members of the co-
op faculty viewed students' co-op experiences as "educational," students
tended to view co-op experiences, more simply, as jobs that could help them
pay for their education. It made sense; for years, the university had marketed
co-op in precisely this way. "Not a lot of thought had been given to what co-op's
educational goals were, what was good about it," Scarborough says. "There

123

CHAPTER SIX

was a growing disconnect between the academic experience and the educa-
tional value of co-op."

It didn't help, according to Scarborough, that co-op faculty members
had traditionally been evaluated in part on the number of job placements they
made more than on the quality or educational value of those placements. Be-
cause the numbers in part determined their job ratings, co-op faculty mem-
bers were at times reluctant to share job information with their colleagues;
instead, they assumed their priority was to find jobs for their own students.
Moreover, some co-op faculty were overworked, leaving little time for student
counseling.

Another unaddressed issue was that the co-op department had grad-
ually developed into a two-tiered system during the 1970s and 1980s, with co-
ordinators— mostly male — responsible for placing students in jobs, and
co-op "counselors" — mostly women — acting as assistants to the coordinators.
In some cases, the counselors wound up doing much the same work as the co-
ordinators, yet they were paid much less, and opportunities for advancement
were limited.

Furthermore, the co-op division had fallen behind in computer tech-
nology. The unit suffered from this lack of innovation, particularly since so
much of the co-op division's work required information sharing.

iJecause of the many issues facing co-op in 1989, Curry made
clear from the beginning of his presidency that the division needed to be
"refocused and revitalized."^ He said in a September 1989 speech to the
university community that he would be a "forceful advocate" for eliminat-
ing any new tenure-track appointments in co-op, unless an individual had a
record of teaching and research comparable to any other tenure-track fac-
ulty member.

Shortly thereafter, Curry named Weiss as interim co-op vice presi-
dent.'^ Weiss, who had served as Northeastern's vice president for academic de-
velopment since fall 1988, succeeded Roy Wooldridge, who had held the chief
co-op post for 24 years. Weiss had spent the 1987-88 year as an executive-on-
loan at the Massachusetts Microelectronics Center in Westborough, working
on fundraising and planning. He had begun his Northeastern career in 1961
teaching chemistry, advancing to become chairman of the chemistry depart-
ment (1969-79), vice provost for research and graduate studies (1979-83),

124

FOR COOPERATIVE EDUCATION, A TIME OF CHANGE

and vice president for research and vice provost (1983-87). Curry said he
named Weiss to the co-op vice presidency because of a strong academic back-
ground as well as solid corporate experience and contacts.

A few months after Weiss assumed his post, Curry charged a 40-
member university-wdde committee with conducting a comprehensive study
of co-op at Northeastern and with addressing a wide range of issues, chief
among them the integration of students' co-op work with their classroom ex-
periences and the question of tenure for co-op faculty members.^

The committee began work in spring 1990, interviewing academic
faculty members, co-op faculty members, administrators, students, co-op em-
ployers, and alumni, and conducting lengthy deliberations. In December, it is-
sued a report declaring that if Northeastern was serious about preserving its
"distinctive edge" in higher education, the university needed to undertake a
series of reforms.*^ The committee's major recommendation, not surprisingly,
was that co-op should be more connected to students' academic experiences.

Kathryn Luttgens, who was an associate provost at the time, chaired
the steering committee of what was called the Cooperative Education Planning
Project. In her view, the educational component of co-op had "lost its way."
Securing jobs, she said, had become more important than matching students'
co-op experiences to their academic and professional goals. ^

"Cooperative education should be more than an undergraduate em-
ployment program," said Luttgens. "It should be an integration of the struc-
tured work experience and the traditional classroom experience." The com-
mittee also called on the president to articulate a "clearly stated purpose that
identifies co-op as part of the mainstream of academic life."

The committee proceeded to recommend, in agreement with Curry's
stated goal, that although qualified co-op coordinators could still be eligible
for tenure if they conducted an appropriate level of scholarship, they should,
for the most part, be reclassified as non-tenure-track faculty and provided with
alternatives to tenure. Further, the committee suggested that the research
component of cooperative education continue to be nurtured, not by requiring
faculty members to focus on scholarly endeavors, but by creating within the
co-op division an international center for the study of work.

In all, the committee issued more than 100 detailed recommen-
dations centering around reaffirmation of the co-op mission, more effective
integration between co-op and academics, more inclusive use of computer
technology, improved marketing, expansion of international cooperative edu-
cation, a broadening of research, and a restructuring of co-op's organization.

125

CHAPTER SIX

Following the co-op committee's report, the administration be-
gan to implement the new recommendations. But the process of change
would not be easy.

For many co-op faculty members, tenure was a hot-button issue. As
the prospect of altering tenure requirements loomed larger for co-op faculty,
many had to evaluate their future at Northeastern. Those without tenure, but
who were on a tenure track, had to decide if a professional, nontenured posi-
tion would satisfy them. Ironically, many of those who did have tenure were
among those most adamant against change, even though their own tenure
would not be jeopardized.

Co-op faculty members argued that their heavy schedule of student
advising — the "teaching" component of their jobs — left them little time to
conduct substantive research, a classic Catch-22 situation. Many also felt that
withdrawing full faculty status from co-op coordinators would signal that co-
op was not, in fact, an "educational" program. Others, noting the importance
of the synergy between research and teaching, questioned the wisdom of re-
moving the research requirement from the role of co-op coordinators. Said one
coordinator, Joyce Fletcher, at the time, "When [research] is taken away from
this job, then it becomes a placement position. It isn't really an educator's po-
sition, and you won't be able to attract educators to it."^

In spite of resistance on the part of some co-op faculty members,
the Faculty Senate in June 1991 overwhelmingly approved a plan to redefine
the roles and responsibilities of the university's 36 co-op coordinators.^ Un-
der the plan, the primary duty of the coordinators would be student coun-
seling, job cultivation, and job placement. Since they would not be eligible
for tenure, they would not be required to perform scholarly research or tradi-
tional classroom teaching. The plan did not affect the 24 already tenured co-
ordinators, nor did it prevent the 8 coordinators who were on a tenure track
from seeking tenure if they so chose. But, most important, the plan made
clear that any coordinator seeking tenure in the co-op department would be
held to the same standards in teaching and scholarship as their peers in the
basic colleges.

At the same time that co-op was venturing into new territory, the
division was also undergoing a change in leadership. A search for a new,
permanent co-op vice president had begun in fall 1990. Of nearly 80 indi-
viduals from across the country who applied for the position, Curry chose
Northeastern faculty member and graduate Scarborough in May 1991.'" As
part of her duties, Scarborough also became interim president of the Na-

126

FOR COOPERATIVE EDUCATION, A TIME OF CHANCE

tional Commission for Cooperative Education, an independent, nonprofit
organization housed at Northeastern dedicated to promoting co-op nation-
wide. A 1985 law school graduate, Scarborough had served as the hiring
attorney and director of legal personnel at the New York law firm of Schulte
Roth & Zabel before returning to her alma mater, where she became associate
dean in 1988.

In some ways, Scarborough was a radical choice to head co-op. Not
only was she the university's first woman vice president, but she was the first
woman ever to hold the key position in the division. And, although she had
worked at Northeastern for several years, she was relatively unknown to co-op
personnel. Furthermore, she clearly faced a challenge in co-op, where many
faculty members felt that their professional status had been diminished by the
reclassification of co-op professionals.

On the other hand, Scarborough believed in the educational value
of co-op and viewed the program as vital to Northeastern's future. She herself
had been a co-op student; she had hired co-op students when she worked
in New York; and she had supervised co-op students as associate dean in
the law school.

Scarborough quickly decided that a key to achieving the goals she
and Curry shared would be boosting morale and self-esteem among co-op fac-
ulty and staff and combating the mistrust and disillusion generated by the re-
classification decision and the ongoing scrutiny of co-op.

Scarborough met one-on-one with all members of the co-op divi-
sion— faculty, administiators, and support staff — to seek their input about
ways the division could improve. She implemented a floor-by-floor redefini-
tion of Stearns Hall, reconfiguring offices, adding furniture, and creating cen-
tial welcoming areas on each floor. She assigned staff to an information sta-
tion in the lobby to create a good first impression. She held retieats and
workshops for the co-op group to promote team-building, improve communi-
cation skills, and heighten sensitivity to diversity. ^^ She also emphasized staff
diversity, promoting Patricia Venter, who had been minority liaison in the co-
op department, to serve as division-wide diversity coordinator reporting di-
rectly to the vice president, thus lending more visibility to the issue. By early
1993, Scarborough had lifted the percentage of minority co-op faculty to 17
percent, up from 7 percent in 1990 - 9 1.^^

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CHAPTER SIX

Several months after Scarborough's appointment, Robert Vozzella
was named interim co-op dean, replacing Paul Pratt, who had served as co-op
dean for 18 years. ^^ Vozzella would be named to the position permanently in
July 1992 and would himself become co-op vice president in early 1995, after
Scarborough opted to return to the law school. ^'^ A 27-year Northeastern
veteran, Vozzella had spent all but three of those years as a co-op faculty mem-
ber; he had also been instrumental in expanding and nurturing the university's

Co-op vice president Jane Scarborough, shown here with co-op's Robert Vozzella (left), focused
on boosting morale, teamwork, linkages with the academic colleges, and student counseling.

distinctive international co-op program, serving as director of that area since
1982. Once he became dean, he focused on the role of coordinators, imple-
menting a promotion process for nontenured faculty members that was
analagous to the promotion process for tenured faculty. He also sought ways
to refashion the organizational structure of the co-op department.

Beyond dealing with personnel and structural issues, Scarborough
and Vozzella also worked on several fronts to enhance co-op experiences for
students. For example, they improved links with the academic colleges by
having some co-op faculty members set up offices in the colleges they served.
Scarborough also refocused coordinators toward counseling students gener-

128

FOR COOPERATIVE EDUCATION, A TIME OF CHANGE

ally, rather than concentrating on job placement. She promoted several of the
most competent co-op counselors, and she added coordinators in areas where
existing co-op faculty were overworked. She also supported the development
of different kinds of co-op placements, particularly for arts and sciences stu-
dents, for whom finding suitable jobs had historically been a challenge. ^^
Some of the kinds of employment explored included nonprofit jobs and in-
ternships.

Scarborough also moved the career serv-
ices department from Ryder Hall to Stearns.
The transfer made the department more accessi-
ble to students and linked career services
more closely wdth the rest of the co-op division,
offering students both co-op and postgraduation
services all in the same location. The move
also made sense because co-op faculty and
career services personnel dealt vdth many of
the same people — representatives of companies
that hired co-op students and graduating seniors.

Although budget constraints forced
Curry and provost Michael Baer to postpone cre-
ation of an institute for the study of work,
the Curry administration never wavered in
making one point crystal clear: co-op would
remain a vital and distinctive component of a Northeastern education.

In September 1993, Curry underscored the importance of co-op. "We
cannot back away from our full commitment to co-op," he said.^^ Co-op, he
went on, was what attracted high achievers to the university. And in response
to some academic faculty members who had questioned the merits of co-op,
Curry responded, bluntly, "They're in the v^ong university. I'm not saying co-
op is perfect, but it's the distinctive marketing and educational advantage
Northeastern has." ^^

Longtime co-op faculty member
Robert Vozzella was named
co-op dean in 1991 and vice
president in 1995.

W hile Northeastern's own cooperative education operation was un-
dergoing a period of self-examination and change, the university continued
its long-standing role of promoting co-op programs both nationally and inter-
nationally— wdth great success.

129

CHAPTER SIX

On the national front, the university remained the prime force behind
the work of the National Commission for Cooperative Education, composed of
university presidents and industiy leaders, with which Northeastern had been
affiliated since 1962. Throughout his presidency, Curry served as a trustee
of the commission and helped sharpen its mission of promoting co-op pro-
grams in the United States, according to Paul Stonely, president of the Na-
tional Commission.

From 1970 into the 1990s, the commission had assisted many col-
leges and universities across the countiy in establishing their own co-op pro-
grams, subsidized by federal funds that became available in the mid-1960s
through the Higher Education Act, first under Title IV and later under
Title VI 11.^^ Through its lobbying efforts in Washington, D.C., the commission
convinced Congress to appropriate more than $250 million for U.S. colleges,
a good portion of which came to Northeastern University itself to support
training programs for other universities. In 1974, a substantial increase in fed-
eral funds for co-op training enabled Northeastern to succeed beyond all ex-
pectations in its mission of spreading the co-op gospel. While just under
200 U.S. colleges and universities offered co-op in 1970, that number shot up
to 900 by 1975 and remained high for the next two decades. ^^

By the early 1990s, however, the National Commission's accomplish-
ment in promoting co-op programs convinced Capitol Hill that federal support
was no longer needed, and government funding dried up. At that point, Curry
led the commission's effort toward the goal of promoting quality among exist-
ing co-op programs, says Stonely.

The commission also began to sponsor educational programs about
co-op, bringing together corporate executives, university presidents, and sen-
ior co-op practitioners from a variety of higher education institutions. New
funding sources were sought from member institutions. Curry was also in-
strumental in encouraging members of the commission's board of trustees to
become more active participants in the commission's work and in sustaining
the commission's role as the national clearinghouse for information on co-op.

Northeastern projected an even stronger profile on the interna-
tional scene, partly through the pioneering work of Vozzella, who was piv-
otal in securing two significant grants to promote co-op in Southeast Asia,
and partly through Curry's own efforts as president of the World Associa-
tion for Cooperative Education and his visits to publicize co-op in several dif-
ferent countiies.

Throughout the late 1980s and 1990s, Northeastern's interest in the
Asia-Pacific region grew. Through the 1980s, increasing numbers of students

130

FOR COOPERATIVE EDUCATION, A TIME OF CHANGE

and scholars from the region chose to study or work at Northeastern, and the
percentage of international students and scholars from Asia, out of all inter-
national students, rose more than 10 percent over the course of a decade, from
33 percent in 1985 to 50 percent in 1996. ^^ The region's burgeoning youth pop-
ulation, as well as its pressing economic and social need for highly skilled
workers, provided Northeastern wdth an opportunity, through international
co-op, to bolster its own image and that of co-op as an economic engine while
boosting its international enrollments.^^

In summer 1991, Northeastern was chosen by the U.S. Agency for
International Development to oversee a three-year, $900,000 grant — the larg-
est ever for co-op — directed toward connecting American businesses in
Southeast Asia with native students enrolled in co-op programs and U.S. col-
leges and universities. ^2 Under the terms of the grant, Vozzella, then director
of international co-op, and his colleague Leonard Zion created a consortium of
U.S. co-op institutions that had large numbers of students from Southeast
Asian countries. Then Vozzella and Zion identified U.S. companies operating
in Southeast Asia and linked the international students to jobs in their home
countries. The initiative was essentially an expansion of Northeastern's home-
country placement program, which had been developed by Vozzella and Zion
in 1985 under President Ryder.^^

The federal grant helped steer Northeastern toward other opportuni-
ties in Southeast Asia. The university was asked to cosponsor several national
co-op conferences in the region: two in Indonesia, at the request of the In-
donesian government, and one in Malaysia, at the request of the University of
Malaya, that nation's premier institution of higher education.

After the federal co-op grant ended, the program's success convinced
Southeast Asian governments and prominent companies in the region to pro-
vide additional monies to keep the project going, Vozzella says. The Indone-
sian government and Freeport Indonesia, one of the nation's leading private
businesses, gave Northeastern nearly $600,000 in 1994 to finance continuation
of the program to develop co-op opportunities for Indonesian students. ^^ Sim-
ilar agreements were reached with Malaysia's national oil and car companies.
These links boosted Northeastern's international enrollments and enhanced
the university's reputation in the Asia-Pacific region. "It was a v^n-v\dn situa-
tion all around," Vozzella says.

Beyond building ties in Southeast Asia, Northeastern also achieved
more recognition in other parts of the world, such as Ireland, Jamaica, and
Egypt, all countries that Curry visited in his role first as trustee, then as
president, of the World Association for Cooperative Education (WACE), an

131

CHAPTER SIX

organization based at Northeastern that, since 1983, had helped introduce the
cooperative education model around the world. Curry's travels led not only to
the promotion of co-op but to subsequent visits to Northeastern by two world
leaders — Irish president Mary Robinson, who came to the university in
March 1994, and Jamaican prime minister P. J. Patterson, who visited in May
of the same year.^^ Both Robinson and Patterson were awarded Northeastern
honorary degrees during their visits.

Jamaican prime minister P.J. Patterson (left) and Irish president Mary Robinson both visited
Northeastern to accept honorary degrees after Curry met with them on visits abroad to promote
cooperative education.

Curry's participation on the WACE board of trustees, beginning in
1989, was critical in revitalizing that group, according to its president, Peter
Franks. Franks, who had served for 10 years as vice president for the National
Commission for Cooperative Education and as special assistant to the vice
president for cooperative education from 1988 to 1992, became WACE's first
full-time president in July 1995, after Curry spoke of the importance of full-
time leadership for the organization at a 1994 WACE conference in Auckland,
New Zealand.^*" At the same time, also at Curry's prompting, the organization's
secretariat, or administrative arm, relocated to Northeastern after being hosted
by Mohawk College in Hamilton, Ontario, for six years.

132

FOR COOPERATIVE EDUCATION, A TIME OF CHANCE

"Jack wanted the secretariat here because Northeastern is the second-
largest co-op institution after the University of Waterloo in Canada," says
Franks. "He thought the move would be good for Northeastem's reputation
and help cement Northeastem's leadership position in co-op internationally."

Franks says Curry helped galvanize a strategic planning effort for
WACE that focused on transforming the conference-oriented organization into
one offering more direct assistance in establishing and supporting inter-
national co-op ventures. Under Curry's leadership, WACE nearly quadrupled
its membership, to roughly 450 institutions; improved research and commu-
nications; and fostered new alliances with higher education institutions, cor-
porations, and governments. Curry also organized the WACE board into work-
ing committees and brought more diversity to the group by seeking more
participants from the Pacific Rim and other developing nations.

Jjecause Curry so firmly believed in the value of cooperative educa-
tion, he preached that message fervently and successfully on the world stage.
As he noted in his annual address to the university's Corporation in May 1994,
his travels around the globe demonstrated the high level of interest in cooper-
ative education, as well as the substantial respect for Northeastem's leadership
in that area. "The attention I have been accorded is proof that Northeastem's
ownership of the title 'world leader in cooperative education' is not an empty
boast but a well-founded claim among leaders in government and education
in all the parts of the world I have visited," Curry told corporators. ^^

Curry always promoted the value of co-op on campus, too. Himself a
product of the co-op plan and a member of the Division of Cooperative Edu-
cation in the 1960s, Curry believes his major contribution was both protecting
and enhancing the image of co-op during very difficult economic times.

Trustee Marini, whose ov^m enthusiasm about co-op led him to hire
hundreds of co-op students over the years to work at Camp Dresser & McKee,
praises Curry for his continued support of co-op. Says Marini, "He recognized
that co-op was the gem."

133

STUDENT CENTER

The renovated student center, named for President Curry and his wife Marcia in 1996, stands as a
strong symbol of the central place held by students during the Curry years.

CHAPTER SEVEN

"The Focus of Everything We Do"

In early November 1996, two months after stepping down as
president, Jack Curry came back to campus and looked out on a sea of faces —
students, faculty, staff, administrators, and friends — all of whom had gathered
to honor him for being what many called the "student-centered president."^
The group of more than 500 was assembled in the Student Center behind the
Ell Building, which had been beautifully renovated on Curry's watch. The pre-
vious spring, student leaders had voted to name the addition after Curry, and
trustee chair George Matthews had persuaded the Board of Trustees to also
inscribe Curry's wife Marcia's name on the building, in recognition of her
support for her husband and her graciousness in cohosting numerous uni-
versity events. That November day when Curry and his wife returned to
campus was to mark the official dedication of the John A. and Marcia E. Curry
Student Center, as well as a grand "thank you" to Curry for making the North-
eastern campus a friendlier, more welcoming place for students, and — per-
haps most important — for listening to student concerns and for including stu-
dents in decision-making more than ever before.

On a makeshift stage, student leaders stood up, one after another, and
spoke of their deep admiration and respect for Curry and all that he had done
for students. Curry appeared emotional as he listened to the tributes. Then the
atmosphere turned more festive as the Northeastern cheerleading squad pre-
sented a spirited performance and hundreds of colorful balloons dropped
from the ceiling.

Finally Curry rose and was greeted with a standing ovation. "You don't
know what it means," he told the crowd, "to be a kid from Lynn, to go to school
at this university, and then have your name up there with legends of our past.
I've never been prouder of anything in my life."

Near the end of the occasion, students unfurled a banner that
would permanently hang in the building, featuring the center's new name

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CHAPTER SEVEN

and a quote from one of Curry's speeches: "The student is the focus of
everything we do."

That sentence came from Curry's very first university- wide speech
in fall 1989.^ Indeed, from the beginning of his presidency, Curry initiated a
sea change in the way students were treated at Northeastern. The school that
had come to be known as "the factory on Huntington Avenue" would become
much more attuned to students' needs, making substantial efforts to view

Student government president Deborah Edwards presents Curry with his own Northeastern
graduation photo at a student reception in honor of his selection as president.

them more like valued customers. And, with Curry's encouragement, students
from all corners of the university — from Student Government Association
leaders to international students to students with disabilities — began an un-
precedented dialogue with Curry and other administrators about their own
needs as well as the future goals of Northeastern.

"I would call Jack the student's president," says James Patterson, who
was president of the Student Government Association (SGA) in 1991-92. "Al-
though the mood of the time was about downsizing, it was never something
that kept Jack from maintaining his contact with us. I also don't know of any
other university president, then or now, who took the student leadership and
the students into consideration as equals to the faculty and staff It was ab-
solutely uncommon, and unusual and unique."

136

"THE FOCUS OF EVERYTHING WE DO"

Adds Laura Waters, SGA president in 1996-97, "You knew you had
an open dialogue with Jack. He wouldn't make any decision until students
had been given a chance to air their concerns. Whether or not we agreed on
things, he always had that open-door policy."

Karen Rigg, who served with Curry throughout his administration,
first as dean of students and then as vice president for student affairs begin-
ning in 1992, says that students felt Curry was on their side. "There was a great

President Curry made it a priority to meet with students — even for running, his favorite pastime.

sense of trust and confidence," she said, adding, "Jack grooved on students. As
he walked across campus, he would stop and wave to them, talk to them. He
has a wonderful warmth — that is part of his legacy."

Curry, for his part, credits Rigg for her own efforts in working closely
with students to improve campus life. "I was very lucky to be able to deal with
someone as student-oriented as Karen Rigg," he says. "It made our work to-
gether so easy."

Curry's support of students went well beyond establishing an open
dialogue. During his presidency, numerous improvements were undertaken
to better students' experience at Northeastern.

Most visibly, the physical campus blossomed with new and refur-
bished buildings as the university invested in its future in spite of tight fi-
nances. Recently built structures included Snell Library, completed during

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CHAPTER SEVEN

President Ryder's administration; the Egan science and engineering research
center; the Marino recreation center; and a classroom building later to be
named for trustee Robert Shillman, in recognition of his gift. In addition, ma-
jor renovations transformed Dodge Hall into a state-of-the-art new home for
the business college, and the student center into a larger, more welcoming,
more functional facility. Classrooms and laboratories across campus were up-
graded, as were athletic facilities, including Matthews Arena and Parsons
Field. And surrounding all the buildings were freshly installed brick pathways,
plantings, and works of art that softened Northeastern's traditionally utili-
tarian feel.

Inside the buildings. Northeastern was refashioned in other ways —
less visible, but just as important. University officials took pains to improve
staff-student interactions in offices across campus and to facilitate student ac-
cess to information, particularly through modern technology. Programs were
initiated to bring faculty and students closer. Library services were upgraded.
The bookstore, under different management, was completely renovated. Resi-
dence halls experimented with innovative programming to appeal to different
groups of students. As Curry put it in October 1991, in an interview in the
Northeastern Voice, he wanted the university to have topnotch student services
so that it would operate "a little bit like Disneyland." ^

"It was all part of the enrollment management strategy," he says, "part
of figuring out how to get students to come to and stay at Northeastern. Hav-
ing a strong library was coupled in my mind with having an improved student
center, an improved bookstore, improved luncheon facilities, as well as im-
proved technology in the classrooms and dorms and a brand-new recreation
center. While things were not easy for us, we knew that to compete with insti-
tutions like Boston University and Boston College and others, we needed these
things. All of these were related to an overall strategy aimed at becoming more
appealing, and to convince students to stay here and feel better about them-
selves and their university."

Students often spoke approvingly of the efforts to strip Northeastern
of its "factory" feel and to recast it as more welcoming and liveable. But stu-
dent leaders seemed most impressed that they had the opportunity to voice
their concerns on a regular basis directly to the president and to participate
fully in crucial university decisions.

i he story of the student center renovation aptly showcases how stu-
dents played starring roles in university planning during the Curry era. For it
was the students who pushed for the renovation, who outlined the features

138

"THE FOCUS OF EVERYTHING WE DO"

they thought the building should have, and who convinced their fellow stu-
dents to agree to a hike in student fees, on top of annual tuition increases in
the 5 to 8 percent range, to pay for the project. "The students got behind it and
sold it," says Gail Olyha, the student center director who oversaw much of the
renovation project. "If they hadn't gotten out there to do the selling they did, it
wouldn't have gone over."

It was clear in the late 1980s, nearly 30 years after the student center
had opened in 1962, that the place was due for a makeover. While the building
had been a grand addition to the campus in the 1960s, it had grown less pop-
ular over the course of time. The ground floor cafeteria was a gray, sparsely
populated place, and the four upper floors housed student offices and meeting
rooms that were dark and uninviting, with air circulation and heating prob-
lems, and often without air conditioning. There weren't enough rooms for
the increasing number of student groups; the building also did not meet cur-
rent fire and safety codes; and it was not fully accessible to individuals v^th
disabilities.

For the nearly three decades since the building had opened in 1962,
students were charged a $12.50 quarterly fee to help retire the bond for the
building. Richard Sochacki, before he stepped dov^ni from being student cen-
ter director in 1988, suggested to students that, when the bond was paid off in
1993, they opt to retain the fee in exchange for improvements to the out-of-date
structure — which one administrator had described regretfully as "like some-
thing out of the Russian youth movement."

When Rigg broached the topic of renovation with Curry around 1990,
he was supportive of enhancing the building and requested more information.
Money was approved for a feasibility study."^ Between 1991 and 1992, Bruner/
Cott & Associates, Inc., of Cambridge conducted the study, setting up focus
groups of students and staff to gather input. "We designed our ideal build-
ing," says Olyha.

The rub, though, was the cost. Olyha says that when she and Rigg pre-
sented the final study to Curry and several senior aides — with a price tag of
$17.6 million — "everybody kind of gasped."

But the initial sticker shock gave way to discussions of how the uni-
versity could pay for the renovations. Some features of the "ideal" building,
such as a skylight, were scrapped, bringing the cost down to $13.6 million.^
Some of the money, officials realized, could come from contributions from
food vendors who would be operating in the building. Still, the substantial
price tag would necessitate a hefty increase in the student fee, to $50 per quar-
ter— which students would have to approve.

Treasurer Robert Culver and business vice president John Martin se-
cured $3 million in vendor contributions in exchange for 10-year contract

139

CHAPTER SEVEN

extensions.'' The university's food service contractors, Dining and Kitchen Ad-
ministration, contributed $2 milHon to help finance the first phase of the ren-
ovation, completed in fall 1993, which transformed the colorless cafeteria on
the ground floor into a lively food court with a dramatic spiral staircase and a
glass-enclosed seating area. Further, the Northeastern bookstore was com-
pletely renovated into an appealing new operation with the help of $1 million
from Barnes & Noble, which had managed the store since the late 1980s.^

The student center, renovated in 1994, included a bright and airy indoor quad, shops and
lounges, and refurbished meetings rooms and office space.

Barnes & Noble also improved the store's book-buying policies, which had
been heavily criticized by faculty in the past.

To finance the refurbishment of the upper floors , students collaborated
through the 1992-93 school year with Olyha and her staff to organize two ref-
erendums asking students to approve the $50 quarterly fee.^ Olyha credits stu-
dents for their grassroots efforts to get the word out about the renovation proj-
ect. Armed wdth architects' renderings of the proposed student center renewal,
students made the rounds at residence halls, student clubs, and informational
tables around campus to describe and promote the project. At one point, about
20 members of the Resident Student Association, led by Joseph Kain and
George Proakis (son of John Proakis, chair of electrical and computer engi-
neering), spent the better part of two evenings leafleting every dorm room on

140

"THE FOCUS OF EVERYTHING WE DO"

campus — about 1,900 rooms — with a sheet arguing why the $50 fee was
worth it, including a breakdown of costs accounting for inflation.

Says Proakis, "I knew that many people were dead set against paying
for the student center renovation. And I got sick of arguing over it with people.
But when we did the information sheet, that started to push the momentum
in the other direction. In each residence hall, there began to be a couple of
champions of the project who were talking it up. Without those sheets, the vote
might not have been 'yes.' "

Curry expresses strong admiration for those students who worked to
get out the "yes" vote. "They did a wonderful job," he says. "To gain approval
in those days when tuition was escalating and when we had a strong erosion
of federal and state financial aid, demonstrated to me that our students also be-
lieved in investing in our future, in becoming better."

With the positive vote, work began on the upper floors of the student
center. Initially it was thought the renovation would take the whole 1994-95
school year to complete, but Olyha says that when the construction manager
on the project suggested shutting down the building in summer 1994 so the
work could be completed in three months, officials jumped at the idea. And
so, in fall 1994, the student center reopened with a bright and airy indoor quad
featuring shops and lounges, and on the upper floors, refurbished hallways,
meeting rooms, and office space.^ As Olyha put it at the time, "I think we've
attained the essence of what a student center is supposed to be all about."

i he "essence" of the new student center seemed to speak of invigor-
ation, of power. In that way, it stood as a tangible symbol of the central place
held by students during the Curry years.

Curry met twice monthly with the SGA and made sure its members
served on committees tackling crucial university concerns, such as strate-
gic planning, budget issues, and potential tuition increases. He says it was
one of his goals to help strengthen the SGA by meeting with them frequently
and involving them in university business. "By making them a stronger stu-
dent government, I think we strengthened their credibility with students as
well," Curry says.

Also during the Curry era, graduate students formed their own
governing association; previously, they had had no official voice in student-
related matters.

Curry made it his business to meet with many different student
groups on a regular basis, with the understanding that he was willing to

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CHAPTER SEVEN

address major university issues so long as concerns were first discussed with
one of the vice presidents. He met vsdth African-American students, Latino stu-
dents, international students, gay students, students with disabilities, student
journalists from the Northeastern News and the university radio station
(WRBB), and others.

For international students, Curry backed a new center to serve as a so-
cial base as well as a resource and promotional center for cultural activities for
the university's more than 2,000 foreign students. ^'^ Latino students were pro-
vided for through a new Latino Cultural Center and a minor in Latino, Latin
American, and Caribbean studies.^ ^ Also, on the death of longtime dean of stu-
dents John O'Bryant in 1992, Curry moved quickly to name the university's
African- American Institute for him, to honor his leadership, particularly on is-
sues of concern to students of color. ^^

Curry was also sensitive to students' spiritual needs, meeting every
quarter with the university chaplains. Curry and the chaplains discussed how
best to support students' diverse spiritual lives, as well as other issues, such as
how to handle communications regarding deaths in the community, or how
to deal with attempts by cultlike groups to recruit on campus. The biggest
challenge facing the chaplains during the Curry years was that the student
population was growing ever more religiously diverse; thus, an emphasis was
placed on making the office of religious life more broadly defined and inclu-
sive. To reflect this change, the office was renamed the office of spiritual life.

A suitable place for student prayer was also a top priority, as students
of different faiths came to Northeastern with very different needs. The Bacon
Memorial Chapel on the second floor of the Ell Building, designed as a Chris-
tian chapel with wooden pews and a westward-facing altar, was particularly
problematic for Muslim students, who had to drag out the heavy pews every
Friday so they could place their prayer rugs on the floor. Explains Sister Rose-
mary Mulvihill, one of the university's Catholic chaplains, the chapel "was a
dismal, dim structure that did not cater well to the increasing diversity of stu-
dents on campus."

And so, plans emerged to renovate the chapel. In fall 1993, North-
eastern architecture professors Monica Ponce de Leon and Nader Tehrani
were commissioned to create a revised chapel design. ^^ Chaplains as well as
students from various traditions met with the architects over the course of two
years to discuss what the new sacred space should be like.

The finished design, which won the Boston Society of Architects
award for unbuilt architecture in November 1996, called for a luminous room
with a gleaming wooden floor and walls of smoky blue-tinged glass. Budget
problems kept the renovation project from being undertaken during Curry's
tenure, but after a fire gutted the chapel in December 1996, insurance money

142

"THE FOCUS OF EVERYTHING WE DO"

helped pay for the upgrade, completed in 1998.^"^ At that time, the chapel was
renamed the Spiritual Life Center.

Students also became more engaged in choosing graduation speakers
during Curry's presidency. In 1994, after several instances in which students
complained about the choice of a graduation speaker, Curry worked with Jack
McDevitt, director of the Center for Criminal Justice Policy Research, to de-
velop a survey that would solicit opinions from all students on the matter, and
to have students help prioritize the findings. ^^ The result.^ "Students loved the
new process," says McDevitt. "For the first time, the process was visible in the
community and everyone had an opportunity to participate."

Students also played a big part in strengthening teacher/course eval-
uations. While evaluations had been conducted since the early 1980s, their ef-
fect on professors was minimal because, for many years, the Faculty Senate
held that the evaluations could not be considered in merit and tenure evalua-
tions. However, the Senate eventually lifted that restriction near the end of
Curry's presidency, after the teacher/course evaluations were standardized
and refined with the involvement of both faculty and students. "During Jack's
presidency, student evaluations became legitimized and became sensitive
enough to deal with different kinds of instructional situations," says assistant
history professor Gerald Herman, who served as SGA adviser through the
Curry years. "The evaluations really began to be used as part of faculty evalu-
ation. And Jack was a very active promoter of this."

A host of other administrative changes streamlined students' inter-
actions v^th the university during Curry's presidency. For years, one of North-
eastern's most glaring problems had been the so-called NU shuffle — when
students were sent scurrying from one office to another just to pay a bill, re-
ceive a financial aid check, or register for class. Notorious among students, the
"shuffle," which often found students directed back to the office they started
at, fostered Northeastern's factory image. Curry and other top administrators
were determined to take huge strides in alleviating the bureaucratic obstacles.

Various solutions were tried. In 1991, a program called "Connec-
tions" offered customer-service training for employees who often dealt with
students. ^"^ Another program initiated in early 1993, called "SNAP" (Stu-
dent Needs Analysis Project), aimed to shorten lines and minimize hassles
for students. ^^

But it was advanced technology that revolutionized student inter-
actions with the university For years, students had been frustrated in their
efforts to conduct business with various university offices whose computer

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CHAPTER SEVEN

systems didn't "talk" to one another. For example, a student might pay a tuition
bill at the bursar's office, only to discover that he or she was blocked from reg-
istering for courses because the registrar's office had no record of the tuition
payment. To tackle this problem, teams led by treasurer Robert Culver and in-
formation services vice president George Harris moved aggressively to intro-
duce more sophisticated systems to ensure that the university's various offices
were operating from the same information base.

In 1993, says Harris, new software was incorporated to enable student
advisers across campus to call up students' records on their computers and
make changes if necessary. The following year, an upgraded computer system
at the student center information booth came on line to offer information on
everything from university policies to airline schedules. ^^ Also in 1994, com-
puter kiosks were installed at five campus locations, giving students instant
access to account information, grades, transcripts, class and exam schedules,
financial aid, class registration updates, co-op, academic advisers, and events,
says Harris. Similar information became available through a telephone voice-
response system implemented the same year. Perhaps most significantly, by al-
lowing students to register for courses over the phone, the voice-response sys-
tem effectively eliminated the long lines that had traditionally snaked through
Hayden Hall during registration periods.

"The changes during that period dramatically changed how stu-
dents did business with the registrar's office," recalls Clarke Thompson, who
was in charge of scheduling classes at the time. "It was really a quantum
leap forward."

Technological improvements also extended to the residence halls,
where the university set up mini -computer labs and wdred each room so that
students could have access to Northeastern's computer network as well as to
the Internet. These enhancements, completed near the end of Curry's presi-
dency, were part of a university-wide effort to establish a campus-wide com-
puter network.

Other efforts sought to bring students in closer contact v^th one an-
other, with staff members, and with professors. For example, provost Michael
Baer established a "freshman friends" program in the spring of 1991 that
enabled faculty and staff to offer freshmen advice or answer questions. In
1994, the university closed its freshman affairs office, which had traditionally
handled freshman advising, and placed advising back in the hands of the in-
dividual colleges, v^th the goal of forging ties between students and their col-
leges as soon as possible.''^

The residential life office developed its own plans to improve stu-
dents' lot. One new program in 1992 turned Speare Hall into a "living-

144

"THE FOCUS OF EVERYTHING WE DO"

learning center," with both dorm rooms and classrooms in the building, so
that some students could take classes downstairs from their rooms instead
of across campus. ^° Residential life also established a wellness residence hall
and a substance-free residence hall. There was also an honors dorm, named
for longtime vice president for administration and student affairs dean
Christopher Kennedy, who died in July 1989 just one month after his retire-
ment. Other offerings included a quiet hall as well as dorms set aside for in-
ternational, engineering, and women students. In 1993, residential life estab-
lished a "one-stop shopping" office in Speare Hall; previously, three different
offices had handled students' housing problems.^^ The following year, another
new program set up a student-faculty dinner in the living-learning center, to
help the two groups get to know one another better.^^

The largest scale undertaking to boost positive contact between
students and the university was the introduction, in summer 1994, of a
new orientation program for freshmen, transfer students, and their parents.
The initiative aimed at reducing so-called summer melt — whereby students
who initially indicated a desire to attend Northeastern would change their
minds over the summer — by creating "a much more personal culture, or
sense of community, on campus," according to Mary Langlie, who became di-
rector of new student orientation and commuter services in December 1993.^^
The program, running from mid-July to the end of August, offered two-day
sessions on campus for all new students. Meeting in groups of 15 and led by
upperclass students, incoming students were able to meet with faculty, staff,
and other students; to learn about Northeastern's academic programs, re-
sources, and services; to take placement exams; to consult with their advisers;
and to register for classes. By spring 1995, a survey found that most partici-
pants felt that the program was beneficial. And retention improved noticeably
among students who had participated in the program.^'^

The university also stepped up efforts to maintain contact with par-
ents by opening an office of parent programs and services in 1992, which had
been closed for several years after operating through the 1980s. The new office,
led by Susan Brown, oversaw parent visits to campus during summer orienta-
tion, set up a parent advisory board, produced a parent handbook, and organ-
ized a fall parents' weekend.

Even when student-related issues became controversial, the North-
eastern campus was decidedly open to lively debate. Curry, in particular, was
not likely to shy away from difficult issues; rather, he welcomed the opportu-
nity to hear student views and to offer his own.

In January 1990, a student was murdered on the outskirts of the North-
eastern campus. 2^ Nineteen-year-old Mark Belmore was walking late one night

145

CHAPTER SEVEN

near the corner of Columbus Avenue and Coventry Street when he was at-
tacked, ostensibly for his wallet and leather jacket. The campus was stunned.

Curry immediately spoke publicly about the incident, and the North-
eastern Voice, the faculty/staff newspaper, carried news of the murder. Curry
maintained that the Northeastern campus was safe, with a public safety record
and procedures "second to none in the nation," but he also told students to
take safety precautions because they were living in an urban environment. He
directed the public safety division to make the campus community more
aware of safety aids such as the police escort service, the emergency tele-
phone network, and public safety workshops. Public safety officers were
stationed at tables around campus to answer questions and provide informa-
tion on crime prevention. Dean of students Rigg and SGA president Deborah
Edwards appeared on the WBZ-TV show. People Are Talking, to discuss the
issue of campus security. The university also hosted a campus-wdde memo-
rial service for Belmore and set up a special program to help people cope
with the loss.

Other issues, thankfully less traumatic, were also handled in an open
manner. In 1990, when Northeastern's Alternative Lifetyles group called for
the Reserve Officers Training Corps to be banned from campus because of its
refusal to admit homosexuals, Curry was firm in his disagreement with the
suggestion. 2^ He maintained that punishing Northeastern's ROTC program
for a policy it didn't control would, in effect, punish the students who benefited
from the program. At the same time, he made it clear that he disagreed with
the discriminatory policy, and he v^ote a strong letter to the Secretary of De-
fense calling for a change in military policy.

Curry also faced difficult issues with both African-American and
Latino students. While many of his meetings with these groups were ami-
cable, there were times when discussions became strained. African-American
students often insisted that they were not getting the best co-op jobs or not re-
ceiving sufficient financial aid. They also complained of unfair treatment by
the university's police officers; some charged that they had been stopped for
questioning simply because of their skin color. On another occasion, Latino
students were angered when one of their favorite tenured professors was fired.
In all these instances, Curry spent hours listening to the students' concerns,
even when the tone of the meetings turned ugly, and after the meetings he did
his best to address the problems.

Tuition, another hot-button issue for students, brought Curry and
student leaders together on numerous occasions — again, not all of them
pleasant. For several years, during the region's economic downturn and

146

"THE FOCUS OF EVERYTHING WE DO"

Northeastem's own downsizing, tuition hikes were lower than the double-digit
increases of the 1980s, but students still sought every year to keep the in-
creases as low as possible. After a 9 percent tuition increase in 1990-91, Curry
pledged to keep the increase to 5 percent or under the following year, which he
did.^'' But in winter 1992, when it looked like tuition for 1992-93 might top
8 percent, students fought back. SGA president Patterson and other student
leaders went so far as to stage a protest against the proposed hike, arguing that
even a 5 percent increase could be tough for some students. ^^ Curry, who had
been holding discussions with students about the tuition increase, was not
happy with their tactics. But he did listen and prevailed in setting a tuition hike
that came in under 8 percent.

In fact, Curry was well aware of the financial difficulties faced by stu-
dents. Between fiscal years 1989-90 and 1996-97, freshman tuition rose from
about $9,500 to $15,000, a more than 35 percent increase, while room and
board costs rose 30 percent, from $5,500 to $7,900.^^ At Curry's direction, the
university sought to mitigate the effects of these increases on the neediest stu-
dents by more than tiipling financial aid between 1989-90 and 1996-97, from
$8.3 million to $29.3 million, an increase of more than 70 percent — a bigger
jump than ever before in Northeastem's history in such a short span of time.^^
Curry also made a special point of not only opening up the discussion of
tuition to all constituencies but of speaking about it publicly afi:er the deci-
sion was made.

Northeastern also established new scholarships to help make college
affordable for students. In fall 1994, the Boston Youth Leadership Awards
were created for 20 Boston seniors who demonstrated outstanding com-
munity leadership and graduated in the top 25 percent of their class.^^
Founded at the same time were the AH ANA Achievement Awards, for 15
Asian-American, Hispanic, African-American or Native American students
graduating in the top 20 percent of their class and scoring 1,050 or higher on
the SAT. Money provided by already existing scholarship programs — the New
England Merit Scholarships and the Ell Scholarships — was also increased.

The president also stood on the frontlines when it came to advocating
for more state and federal financial aid for students. Throughout the early and
mid-1990s, Curry decried cuts in financial aid as well as proposals to shift aid
from grants to loans. He paid particular attention to changes that would force
students at Northeastern and other private institutions to dig deep into their
pocketbooks.

In Massachusetts, Curry fought hard against plummeting state aid
levels, which dropped by more than half in just three years' time, from a high

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CHAPTER SEVEN

of $84 million in fiscal year 1989 to $35 million in 1992.^2 g^^ j^ summer 1992,
Curry, serving as chairman of the Association of Independent Colleges and
Universities of Massachusetts, lobbied legislators and waged an aggressive
letter-writing campaign to the state's largest daily newspapers in support of in-
creased scholarship funding. The drive was successful: When the budget was
finalized, financial aid was boosted to $61 million. Said Jean Eddy, vice provost
for enrollment management, at the time, "Jack Curry is a champion with the

In early 1996, U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy speaks against proposed cuts in federal student

aid at a spirited student rally on campus. Seated, at left, are President Curry and U.S. Representative

Joseph Kennedy.

financial aid community of Massachusetts. They are attributing most of the
success to the president and his influence."

Curry was also active on the national scene in calling for more edu-
cation aid for students. At a Boston forum in May 1992, Curry charged that the
federal government was unwilling to support higher education, noting that
only 1 percent of the federal budget was set aside for it." "We should be advo-
cating and expanding, not cutting back, higher education grants," Curry said
at the forum, appearing along with Boston Mayor Raymond Flynn and other
leaders from the public and private sectors to address the city's future na-
tional legislative agenda. The best way to improve the quality of urban life, he

148

"THE FOCUS OF EVERYTHING WE DO"

continued, is to "give young people a crack at a college education [and] make
sure that it's not only the rich who can afford to send their kids to college."

In winter 1995, Curry again spoke out, decrying a proposal by House
Republicans to cut $20 billion in federal student aid. Recently elected secretary
of the board of directors of the National Association of Independent Colleges
and Universities (NAICU, AICUM's parent organization), Curry called the
threat to affording a college education "more frightening than it's ever been
in our history. . . . We should be investing in education, not taking money
away." ^'^ Three months later. Northeastern hosted a spirited rally in the student
center to protest the proposed cuts, featuring U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy,
U.S. Representative Joseph Kennedy, Curry, former Massachusetts governor
Michael Dukakis, and Clare Cotton, president of AICUM.^^

"Jack played a key role in helping to preserve and protect federal finan-
cial aid for students," says David Warren, executive director of NAICU.

Curry's contribution to supporting financial aid did not go unnoticed
by students. Neither did his efforts to create a more user-friendly, welcoming
cam.pus and to include students more than ever before in university decision-
making. As thanks to Curry, seniors in the class of 1996 voted to name their
class gift the John A. Curry Scholarship, launching a $50,000 fiand drive to
support it.^^ The scholarship was to be awarded to upperclassmen in good ac-
ademic standing who had a demonstrated financial need — exactly the kind of
students Curry had sought for many years to help; in fact, exactly the kind
of student whom Curry himself had once been. And when students and the
Board of Trustees chose to name the student center after Curry, many uttered
the same word to describe the decision: "fitting."

As SGA president Waters said at the time, "I don't think there was one
person who didn't think this was a good idea. We thought it would be a very
fitting tribute to a man who has done so much for the students. Even when he
couldn't do what the students wanted, he always took time to listen to their con-
cerns and empathize with them. That meant a lot."

149

A group of business students, reflecting the diversity of the Northeastern campus, studies in
Dodge Hall.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Advancing Diversity and Community

In early 1992, Jack Curry asked psychology professor Harlan
Lane — a university distinguished professor and recent recipient of a prized
MacArthur Foundation, or "genius," grant — to chair a new commission on
diversity, tolerance, and community. The commission, Curry explained, would
make recommendations to him on how to reduce intolerance and discrimina-
tion at Northeastern based on race, religion, national or ethnic origin, gender,
sexual orientation, or physical appearance or ability.

Lane was skeptical. He'd known Curry since the early 1970s and cer-
tainly wanted to help the president with what sounded like an admirable
project, but he was relucant to take time away from his scholarly work. He also
recognized that reports and recommendations had a tendency to end up filed
and forgotten. "But, to be honest," Lane recalls, "I couldn't think of a way to say
that to Jack that was polite. So I didn't say it. I just hoped we would do such a
bang-up job that [these recommendations] wouldn't just get filed."

As it turned out. Lane's concern was, as he puts it, "completely
unwarranted."

Indeed, six months later, when commission members met with Curry
to discuss their 67 recommendations, Curry "did something astonishing,"
says Lane. "I've never seen it happen before or since. He held himself ac-
countable to the commission. We went through all sixty-seven recommenda-
tions— we sat there for three hours — and he refused only one."

Curry's overwhelming acceptance of the commission's recommen-
dations sent a clear message of his belief in the importance of diversity and
tolerance at Northeastern. But the message wasn't new; in fact, Curry had
spoken of his conviction since the start of his presidency. In his December 1,
1989, inauguration speech, he said, "Of all the noble ideals that a univer-
sity can teach, none are more vital to our democracy than those of tolerance.

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CHAPTER EIGHT

inclusion, and the free exchange of ideas." He went on: "[The university]
must bring to its campus students and faculty as diverse as the world from
which they are drawn. It must promote civil discussion of differences and
provide opportunity for the practice of cooperation and tolerance. It must
demonstrate through its course offerings an unwavering respect for the
world's multitude of cultures. And it must be a strong voice in the commu-
nity at large." ^

These words were translated into con-
crete actions through the early and mid-1990s,
as Curry implemented many of the Lane com-
mission's recommendations and took other steps
to make Northeastern a more diverse and wel-
coming place for all kinds of people — as well
as a place where differences could be dis-
cussed openly. During Curry's tenure, Northeast-
ern's senior administrators became a more di-
verse group; diversity became a more significant
factor in hiring new faculty and staff; and addi-
tional forms of support were put in place for an
increasingly diverse student body. And through-
out his presidency, Curry spoke often of the im-
portance of tolerance and diversity in speeches,
in memos, and in meeting rooms.

Ellen Jackson, who served as dean and di-
rector of affirmative action under Curry, said after
his retirement in 1996 that he "wholeheartedly
committed the school to a policy of diversity that
is rivaled by no other institution. He supported
virtually every endeavor we proposed to him,
whether from the affirmative action office, the
African-American community, the Latino com-
munity, women, gays and lesbians, or others."^
Adds Katherine Pendergast, who was
named vice president of human resources man-
agement in 1993, "It was clear across the cam-
pus that diversity was a major agenda item for this president. This was a no-
nonsense issue. It was woven through and around everything the institution
was doing at the time."

In some ways, Curry seemed an unlikely champion of diversity He at-
tended Northeastern at a time when it was understood, as it was at most other

Psychology professor and
MacArthur Scholar Harlan Lane

Ellen Jackson, dean and director
of affirmative action

152

ADVANCING DIVERSITY AND COMMUNITY

American universities, that whatever opportunities were open to an individual
were often determined by social class, skin color, or religion. Many of Curry's
fellow students were much like him — Irish, Catholic, and from middle- or
lower-class backgrounds. Curry recalls only one African- American student
and one international student in his 1956 graduating class. The people who
ran the university, on the other hand — the senior officers and members of
the governing boards — were overwhelmingly Protestant, male, and white,
holdovers from Northeastern's early association with the YMCA, which was led
by a group of Boston's Brahmin leaders who had created what would later be-
come Northeastern to provide higher education to those less fortunate than
themselves. Northeastern was not unique in this regard; many other Boston
institutions at the time were run the same way, with individuals of certain
religious backgrounds finding it very difficult to assume positions of power.
From his early days working at Northeastern, Curry remembers when it
was business as usual for employees' records to be marked "P" for Protestant,
"R" for Roman Catholic, or "J" for Jewish.

There wasn't much gender diversity, either. "Until the mid-1970s,"
Curry notes, "there weren't many women on campus because we were so
loaded with engineers and business administrators. So there was a big uphill
climb for Northeastern on the issue of diversity."

Why did Curry care so much about diversity? Jane Scarborough,
whom Curry made the first-ever woman vice president of Northeastern and
who is openly lesbian, thinks Curry's difficult teenage years — losing his
mother, dealing wdth an alcoholic father, struggling through his first year at
Northeastern — made him acutely aware of how tough it can be to fit in and
achieve success when one is dealing with being "different" or has a handicap
of some sort. Although Curry was "the consummate insider in his institution,"
Scarborough says, "his view of society was that of someone who's been on the
margins and had been an outsider in the past. I think his normal sympathies
and instincts were for the underdog — whoever that was."

Curry also witnessed changes at Northeastern as the university re-
sponded to the profound transformations in American society v^ought by the
women's movement and the black power movement. Starting in the mid-1960s,
and continuing through the 1970s and 1980s, university officials initiated their
first concrete efforts to bring more diversity to the student body and to the fac-
ulty and staff In 1964, Asa Knowles launched the university's first-ever schol-
arship program for African-American students in Boston, fianded by the Ford
Foundation. As an admissions counselor at the time, Curry was involved in
this recruitment effort. Knowles also established developmental programs to
help enhance the scholarship recipients' reading and language skills.^

153

CHAPTER EIGHT

A decade later, when U.S. District Court Judge W. Arthur Garrity, Jr.,
ordered 21 greater Boston colleges and universities to participate in the second
phase of Boston's public school desegregation plan, Knowles assumed a lead-
ership role by chairing the steering committee of college presidents in-
volved in the undertaking."^ Kenneth Ryder continued with the work begun by
Knowles; he also served as chair of the steering committee, starting in 1977,
and institutionalized the university's ties with the Boston public schools by
creating Northeastern's Urban Schools Collaborative Office in 1976.^ After
a short time, Ryder hired two people he'd worked with on the desegregation
effort. Jackson, who had been director of Boston's Freedom House, was ap-
pointed Northeastern's director of affirmative action, and John O'Bryant,
a school board member, became the university's assistant dean of students
in 1978 and its vice president of student affairs the following year.*^ In general,
during Ryder's tenure, the university intensified its commitment to hiring
more people of color. Substantial efforts were also made to support minority
students attending Northeastern; for example, Ryder oversaw a substantial in-
crease in the numbers and kinds of scholarships available to Boston public
school students.''

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, the number of students of color
attending Northeastern was expanding. By the time Curry became president,
minority students made up about 12 percent of the student body and that per-
centage continued to grow stiongly through the 1990s, reaching 17.4 percent
by fall 1996, despite the overall enrollment drop.^ Much of that growth came
from an increase in the number of Latino students; between 1988 and 1993,
the number of full-time Latino students at the university jumped nearly 60 per-
cent.^ Such expansion was in line with national trends. Between 1990 and
1996, the nation's Hispanic/ Latino population rose by 5.5 miUion — about
24 percent, compared with 9 percent growth among African-Americans and
5 percent grovv1:h among whites. In total, Latinos represented 10.6 percent of
the entire U.S. population by July 1996.^° International students also composed
a sizable portion of the student body during Curry's tenure. Although their
overall numbers decreased slightly, from 2,166 to 1,992 between 1990 and
1996, during that same period they made up an increasing percentage of the
total student body up from 6.1 percent to 8.1 percent. ^^

In fall 1989, Curry understood that Northeastern — as an urban insti-
tution that had long championed the mission of being accessible to all kinds
of students — needed to fully embrace the cause of diversity, not just because
minority populations were increasing, but because it was the right thing to do.
"Jack truly believed in this whole concept of diversity," says Keith Motley a
1978 Northeastern graduate who served as director of the African-American

154

ADVANCING DIVERSITY AND COMMUNITY

Institute before becoming associate dean of students. "He made sure that even
though Northeastern was becoming smaller but better, the institution still
maintained its commitment to young people from all different kinds of back-
grounds. He didn't assume that African-American students or Latino students
or others couldn't perform. His challenge was to go find those students and
convince them to come to Northeastern."

Vjurry's establishment of the Lane commission, and his subsequent
acceptance of almost all of its recommendations, was perhaps the most strik-
ing evidence of his commitment to the cause of diversity.

When Lane and his colleagues on the commission undertook their
examination of the climate for diversity at Northeastern, they found much
room for improvement. In open meetings on campus, gay students talked
about hearing homophobic comments in their dorms or seeing antigay graf-
fiti. A business student observed that he'd never seen an African-American
student in any of his classes. Students of color reported getting blocked from
registering for courses because they couldn't pay their bills on time, then get-
ting shut out of the classes entirely because they were full.

Commission members also gathered reams of data — everything
from the university's dropout rate to its level of scholarship aid to the status
of its women faculty and staff — and compared the Northeastern information
vsdth similar information from comparable universities. They studied other in-
stitutions' progress in addressing issues of diversity. And they discovered that
while some schools had made substantial efforts — Harvard, MIT, UCLA, and
UC/ Berkeley were the most prominent examples — most institutions had
been more reactive than proactive in dealing with diversity.

Overall, commission members didn't hear anything that led them to
conclude that Northeastern was "scandalously racist or sexist," Lane says. But
they did find that the racism and intolerance endemic in American society per-
sisted on the Northeastern campus. "We hadn't escaped it," Lane says. "And,
really, why should we escape it? After all, our students, faculty, and staff come
from the larger society. How could it be that suddenly all of that was stripped
away here? My sense was that we were fairly average for a university. But that
wasn't good enough for a large urban university with a substantial minority
population."

Thus, the commission came up with its 67 recommendations, touch-
ing on issues ranging from financial aid policy to residential life to curriculum
to hiring and retention practices. In announcing the recommendations to the

155

CHAPTER EIGHT

university, Lane said, "What we have done is to administer a strong antiviral
agent throughout the body of the university, which we hope will seek out and
destroy the toxins of discrimination and intolerance." ^^

Curry began implementing some of the recommendations immedi-
ately Just after the commission issued its report in May 1992, Curry declared
he would hire an ombudsman for diversity and set up an executive board
on diversity to meet monthly; establish a system to track bias incidents at
the university; centralize university procedures for gathering data about di-
versity among students, faculty, and staff; and institute diversity training and
education at all levels of the university. Curry himself would later partici-
pate in one of these training sessions for the university's top officials, a
move that impressed many of those who worked with him. Pendergast
calls this session, held at the Warren Center in Ashland, a "defining moment"
when it was made clear that Curry wanted diversity to be a "shared value" at
Northeastern.

Curry also expressed approval for plans to introduce discussions about
diversity into undergraduate course curricula; to examine the possibility of ex-
panding the minority-faculty-recruitment fund he had initiated to include
openly gay and lesbian scholars and candidates with disabilities; to institute a
diversity-based hiring and retention plan; and to recast the financial aid system
to promote recruiting and retaining students from minority groups. ^^

By the time Curry stepped down from the presidency, most of the
Lane commission's recommendations had been implemented.^'^ Even the one
recommendation that Curry didn't accept — that Northeastern suspend its
ROTC programs as long as the U.S. Department of Defense discriminated
against lesbian and gay recruits — had been addressed as far as Curry was
comfortable. A firm advocate of ROTC as a valuable option for students, Curry
refused to abolish the programs, although he did speak out forcefully against
the defense department's policy.

Overall, Lane says, Curry's support of the work of the diversity
commission brought Northeastern to the foreground of universities working
actively to bring more diversity to their campuses. "A few schools were pro-
active," he says, "and Northeastern joined their ranks."

For Curry, diversity was crucial not just among faculty members,
students, and staff, but among individuals at the highest levels at Northeast-
ern. Scarborough, named vice president for cooperative education in May 1991,

156

ADVANCING DIVERSITY AND COMMUNITY

was the first woman in the university's history ever appointed to that rank. An-
other woman, Karen Rigg, was named vice president for student affairs in Sep-
tember 1992. That same month, George Harris, an African-American, became
vice president for information services and only the second African-American
to achieve that rank. Pendergast was appointed vice president for human re-
sources management in June 1993. Other senior administrators included sev-
eral women and people of color: Daryl Hellman, executive vice provost; Willie
Rodriguez, Curry's special assistant for Latino affairs; and Holly Carter, special
assistant to Curry on the Tobin School project.

On the faculty side, major efforts were undertaken to draw more
people of color to Northeastern. Beginning in 1989, a special fund was estab-
lished to provide hundreds of thousands of dollars each year to help recruit
and retain minority faculty members. ^^ Thanks to the fund, the number of
African-American and Hispanic-Latino faculty members jumped from 29 in
1990 to 49 in 1996. K'

At times, some members of Northeastem's minority community ex-
pressed frustration with the university's difficulty in finding and keeping new
faculty members, and with the lack of career paths for administrators. One
school official told the Northeastern Voice in May 1993, "If you come to North-
eastern as a black person, you'd better like what you're doing, because you may
be doing it for the rest of your life." ^-^

At the same time, however, most African-American faculty and staff
interviewed by the Voice felt that Curry was committed to improving the situ-
ation. David Hall, a law professor at the time who went on to be named dean
of the law school and, later, provost of the university told the Voice, "I think the
university is committed on the theoretical and policy level to have an inclusive
and diverse university The challenge is to take that policy and to make it hap-
pen in a very practical and consistent way." ^^

One area of notable success was in the psychology department, where
chair Leon Kamin aimed for the long-term goal of a national increase in the
number of minority faculty members by creating opportunities for minority
students in his department. In 1989, he set up a summer research apprentice
program for undergraduates that allowed them to do graduate-level research
with Northeastern psychology professors for eight weeks. ^^ He also actively re-
cruited minority graduate students to Northeastern by waging an aggressive
mailing campaign, allowing prospective students to call the university collect
v^th questions, offering all-expenses-paid trips to visit the university, and ar-
ranging for them to meet personally with faculty members in psychology as
well as African-American studies. The effort paid off: In 1989-90, the first

157

CHAPTER EIGHT

year of Kamin's initiative, 4 minority graduate students in psychology enrolled
at Northeastern. The second year, 6 out of 28 graduate psychology students
were minorities.^''

Northeastern's push for diversity played out in other ways as well, co-
inciding with increased national awareness of the need to ensure more com-
fortable work environments for many different kinds of people. For example,
in 1990, the university revised its procedures for filing grievances regarding
sexual harassment, and the following year formed a sexual harassment net-
work of faculty members, staff, and students to discuss individuals' questions
or complaints and to provide information and referrals. Managers underwent
training about what constituted sexual harassment or a hostile work environ-
ment. The university also offered workshops about how to address AIDS in
the workplace.

Northeastern greatly improved the work situation for gay and lesbian
employees when, in 1993, the Board of Trustees approved the extension of
health care and tuition benefits for their long-term partners, becoming one of
just a handful of universities to have done so.^^ Pendergast, who oversaw the
incorporation of that policy as vice president for human resources manage-
ment, recalls that it was controversial partly because of concerns that it would
inordinately increase the university's health care costs, and partly because
some opposed it from a social policy standpoint. But it was "absolutely true,"
Pendergast says, "that Jack Curry took a strong advocacy role in implementing
the policy because it was the right thing to do."

When it came to hiring outside contractors, Curry urged that minority-
owned firms be chosen whenever possible. A minority business enterprise
program, directed by vice president for business John Martin, increased
minority-owned business participation at Northeastern by 63 percent, largely
by building on existing business relationships to create established business
partners with the university.^^ The successful effort prompted outside recog-
nition for the university: the city of Boston praised Northeastern's success in
hiring women and people of color for the Snell Library project and, three years
after Curry's departure, the university was given the prestigious Black & White
Boston Award for minority business development.^^

In 1990, the university's Center for the Study of Sport and Society
launched Project Teamwork, an undertaking funded by the Reebok Corpora-
tion that would send former professional athletes to schools in Massachusetts
and elsewhere to speak out against prejudice.'^'*

Also, in an important symbolic move. Northeastern named two of its
campus buildings for prominent African-Americans who had died: in 1992,

158

ADVANCING DIVERSITY AND COMMUNITY

the African-American Institute was named for former vice president of stu-
dent affairs O'Bryant,^^ and the followdng year the residence hall at 157 and
163 Hemenway Street was named for former trustee and Northeastern gradu-
ate Kenneth Loftman.^^

Various student constituencies also benefited greatly from the ad-
ministration's focus on diversity. For example, as Northeastern's Latino student
population grew and the Latin American Student Organization (LASO) be-
came more prominent, Curry approved a number of moves to enhance the
campus climate for these students. On his watch, the university established a
new Latino cultural center in September 1995; the provost's office approved
a new program in Latino, Latin American, and Caribbean studies; ^^ annual,
full-tuition scholarships were created for eight Latino students; ^^ Rodriguez, a
former co-op coordinator who went on to help coordinate, then direct the uni-
versity's Latino studies program, became Curry's special assistant for Latino
affairs; ^^ additional Latino faculty members were appointed and more Latino-
related library books were purchased; and Latino staff were hired to work in
admissions and financial aid.

At one point. Latino students got upset about the firing of a tenured
Latino professor who had misused university funds. But throughout the con-
troversy, Curry and LASO members continued to meet, even when discus-
sions became tense. "These weren't always pleasant meetings, but the fact
that we were going through these exchanges meant that there was mutual re-
spect between us," recalls Curry. Terry Mena, a LASO member who later was
named assistant director of the Latino Cultural Center, recalls the situation as
"touchy," but adds that, ultimately, the students viewed Curry as an ally, so they
respected his decision on the matter.

Curry also gets credit from Ruth Bork, assistant dean and director
of Northeastern's Disability Resource Center, for helping nurture the growth
of services for students with disabilities. Curry had been involved in this area
since the late 1970s, when he was vice president for administration and Presi-
dent Ryder gave him oversight of the new Office of Services for the Handi-
capped, later to be renamed the Disability Resource Center. Throughout the
1970s and 1980s, and continuing through his presidency, Curry endeavored to
improve access and services for students with disabilities. Elevators were up-
dated, ramps were added, a new program for learning disabled students was
initiated, and services for deaf and blind students were enhanced. Northeast-
ern came to be known as an exceptionally supportive place for students with
disabilities, ranking in the top 10 percent of such schools nationwide, says Bork.
Consequently, enrollments of students wdth disabilities increased dramatically.

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CHAPTER EIGHT

Between 1986-87 and 1994-95, the number of such students at Northeastern
rose from 102 to 555, a more than fivefold increase. ^"^

Curry's diversity agenda was promulgated among students as well,
starting from the time they arrived at Northeastern and continuing through-
out their college careers. Diversity was raised as a topic at orientation; charis-
matic speaker Maya Angelou v^as invited to campus several times to spread a
message of tolerance among students; and residence hall programs touched
on diversity topics. At graduation, students also witnessed Northeastern award
honorary degrees to a diverse group of prominent individuals, including the
Reverend Leon Sullivan, who promoted economic development for the poor
and developed the Sullivan Principles to guide the conduct of companies op-
erating in South Africa under the apartheid system; and Rachel Robinson,
widow of baseball great Jackie Robinson and founder and chair of the Jackie
Robinson Foundation, which awards college scholarships to minority teens.

KJn occasion, Curry's emphasis on diversity and his tolerance for
open debate on campus resulted in controversy. The most prominent of such
incidents involved Leonard Jeffries, chair of black studies at City College of
New York, who was invited to Northeastern in early 1995 by Haitian Student
Unity, a campus group. In past speeches, Jeffries had accused Jews of financ-
ing the slave trade and charged that Jews and the Mafia had conspired to deni-
grate African- Americans in the movies. He had also hinted at conspiracies re-
garding the spread of AIDS and had pointed to male Jewish professors at City
College as being members of a secret society.^^

Although Curry found Jeffries's views deplorable, he felt Jeffries
should have the right to speak on campus at the invitation of a student group.
But Curry was also anything but quiet regarding his opinion of Jeffries. In-
deed, he decided to blast Jeffries, quite publicly, in community memos, in
campus newspapers, and even in the Boston Globe.

"The bigoted views of Leonard Jeffries . . . are offensive and despi-
cable," Curry wrote in the Globe. But he also defended Jeffries's right to air his
views. "Despite the shoddy scholarship, perverse views, and ideological bias of
his speeches and writings, Jeffries has a clear right to speak and be heard,"
Curry wrote. "Where, if not at the university, is the appropriate forum for air-
ing and refuting bigoted and hateful views? The way to fight speech is with
more speech, not with repression, censorship, or disregard." ^^ And Curry
vowed in a campus memo that he would set up an alternative forum at which
Jeffries's views could be "exposed, disputed, and corrected.""

160

ADVANCING DIVERSITY AND COMMUNITY

Thus began a nasty vv^ar of words between Curry and Jeffries. Jeffries
did accept the invitation from Haitian Student Unity to speak in mid- February.
But before he arrived, he accused Curry of misrepresenting his ideas and
attempting to stifle open debate on campus. ^"^ "He's made a blind, violent at-
tack [on my works]," Jeffries told the Northeastern Voice in a telephone inter-
view. "He's chilling my right to speak." Curry shot back: "He's speaking
here, isn't he?"

Haitian Student Unity wasn't pleased, and met with Curry to com-
plain that he had bypassed them by criticizing Jeffries 's views in public. On
the other end of the spectrum, an English professor, Arthur Weitzman, wrote
an opinion piece in the Northeastern Voice castigating Curry's decision to allow
Jeffries to speak, calling Jeffries a "nasty piece of work.""

When Jeffries finally did give his speech, he used the occasion to at-
tack Curry for his high salary and accused him of being part of a system of
white supremacy that oppresses African- Americans and women. ^^ Curry said
later that he wasn't bothered by the personal attacks. "Presidents are used to
the slings and arrows," he said. "Our students had the opportunity to hear the
speech and form their own judgment. That's what this university is all about."

Open debate also surfaced across campus when a civil engineering
professor, Peter Furth, wrote an opinion piece in the Northeastern Voice criti-
cizing a university plan to recruit openly gay and lesbian individuals.^^ Furth 's
piece generated more letters to the Voice than had ever before been received.
Most were harshly critical of Furth's views. But, as Scarborough said at the
time, "These issues need to be talked about and they need open dialogue.
That's precisely when universities are at their best."

LJuring Curry's presidency, the campus's level of tolerance for dif-
ferent kinds of people had improved to the point where several groups had
public celebrations of the gains they'd made. In May 1992, campus women
celebrated the 10-year anniversary of the women's studies program as well as
the achievements of women faculty and administrators;^^ and, in June 1994,
gays and lesbians marked their own decade of advancement at Northeast-
ern.^^ Provost Michael Baer offered a telling comment at the time. "I like
being in a community where everyone can feel comfortable just being who
they are," he said.

Curry himself was accorded ample recognition for his work on diver-
sity. In March 1993, Curry received the American Jewish Committee's Insti-
tute of Human Relations Award before an audience of more than 400. Hebrew

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CHAPTER EIGHT

College gave Curry an honorary degree in 1994, largely for his leadership in
combating discrimination. In 1996, Curry received the Humanitarian Award
from the National Conference of Christians and Jews. Curry also was given
the Hecht-Shaw award in 1992 from the Lena Park Community Development
Corporation, for his efforts to improve the quality of urban life in Boston; and
a 1996 award from the Fenway Community Health Center, which focuses on
catering to the health needs of gays and lesbians, honoring Northeastem's

In 1994, Hebrew College gave President Curry an honorary degree for his leadership in combating
discrimination. Here, Hebrew College president David Cordis (left) presents the degree.

long-standing relationship with the center, including monetary donations and
volunteer work from students. "^^

Curry was also honored by his colleagues on campus. Just before he
left Northeastern in August 1996, African-American and Latino students pre-
sented him with plaques for his efforts to promote diversity, and the entire
community of minority groups gave him a sculpture titled A Family Circle of
Friends, depicting different kinds of people embracing.

Trustee Edward Owens deems Curry "the founder of diversity" at
Northeastern. Human resource management's Pendergast says that "Jack cre-
ated a climate where people from different backgrounds and different com-
munities could come and flourish, advance, and be recognized." And when

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ADVANCING DIVERSITY AND COMMUNITY

Curry gave his last speech to the university's corporation in June 1996, he told
them that, more than anything, he was proud of how he'd helped foster diver-
sity on campus.

"If I could choose but one hallmark of my administration to endure,"
he told the group, "it would be the atmosphere of harmony, diversity, and tol-
erance that we have created on this campus." "^^ He added, "I want more than
anything else for this university to remain a place where a person's religion,
ethnic and national origin, skin color, gender, and sexual identity are sources
of pride, not spots of contention."

For Scarborough, that message from Curry was truly heartfelt. "Even
though I don't think he necessarily came to [promoting diversity] the way a lot
of academics do, from an intellectual point of view," she says, "he lived it. It was
in his gut. And in his gut, fairness and giving people a chance were really what
he was about."

163

President Curry poses on
the steps of the Capitol
Building. During his presi-
dency, Curry played an
active role in federal, state,
and local politics.

CHAPTER NINE

Forging New Links with Neighbors Near and Far

In June 1989, one month before Jack Curry became president of
Northeastern, the university was sued by its closest neighbors. Several com-
munity groups in the Fenway neighborhood, as well as three abutters of
the university's so-called Opera lot at the corner of Huntington Avenue and
Forsyth Street, filed suit to try to stop Northeastern from building a 700-bed
residence hall on that site.^

The lawsuit was the culmination of years of frustration on the part
of neighborhood residents, who had become increasingly distressed through
the 1980s as increasing numbers of Northeastern students moved into the
Fenway, contributing to rising rental costs and, even worse, causing rowdy dis-
turbances at loud parties and on the streets. Neighbors were also distrustful of
Northeastern because, they charged, the university had reneged on an agree-
ment it had made in the late 1970s to stop buying property in the Fenway and
to seek community approval for any expansion.^

But just two years after Curry became president, the relationship
between Northeastern and its Fenway neighbors had noticeably improved.
"The walls started to come down," recalls Thomas Keady, who had been North-
eastern's director of city relations since 1987, and whom Curry would name
in June 1991 to direct all government relations — city, state, and federal.
"Community people started to look at us more as a partner than an adver-
sary," Keady says.

The change occurred because Northeastern had begun to listen more
closely to the concerns of Fenway residents and to actively address them. Such
efforts were symbolic of the university's broader goal of nurturing fruitful re-
lationships with other community groups, as well as with city, state, and fed-
eral officials, becoming a more vigorous player in each arena. Under Curry,

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CHAPTER NINE

the university stepped up its overall government relations agenda. Besides
improving relations with its Fenway neighbors, Northeastern became more
heavily engaged wdth the Boston schools; worked to boost economic devel-
opment in Lower Roxbury to its south; and focused on political issues that
impacted Northeastern as well as the city, state, and nation. And, as Curry's
presidency matured, he became increasingly effective in the public arena, cul-
tivating important political relationships and serving as an eloquent spokes-
man for Northeastern and for higher education.

V-iurry's choice of Keady as director of government relations in 1991
did much to engender good will between Northeastern and its immediate
neighbors and to develop working relationships with city, state, and federal
officials. Keady, who before coming to Northeastern had served on the staff
of Boston City Councilor Michael McCormack, quickly gained a reputation as
a hardworking, no-nonsense administrator who kept his word and who had
Curry's full support. Even at the national level, where Keady had the least
experience, he quickly became known to and liked by several prominent
Democrats, to the point where, in the mid-1990s, he would become a political
"advance man" for President Clinton, Vice President Al Gore, and Senator Ed-
ward Kennedy, helping coordinate logistics for their visits to Massachusetts.

In 1989, when Curry asked Keady for advice about how to handle the
Fenway situation, Keady recommended that the university take a more pro-
active stance with its Fenway neighbors. "I think we should start taking re-
sponsibility for what our kids are doing in the Fenway," Keady told Curry. "And
we've got to hear out the people in the neighborhood. It won't be easy, but we
should do it."

And so, one evening in late fall 1989, Keady and Curry went to the
home of Richard and Vicki Caller on St. Stephens Street. Richard Caller was
president of Symphony United Neighbors, one of the groups that had sued
Northeastern in anger over the university's failure to control the behavior of its
off-campus students. Also present were about 20 other people, all of whom
had something to say about what it was like to be a neighbor to Northeastern.
It was the first time a Northeastern president had met antagonistic neighbors
on their own turf.

Residents raised all the issues that bothered them: the keg parties, the
loud music, the public drunkenness. What happened next, Keady says, was
also a first — Curry apologized. And Curry urged residents to bring any and all

166

FORCING NEW LINKS WITH NEIGHBORS NEAR AND FAR

concerns to Keady, assuring them that Keady would refer those problems di-
rectly to his attention. "After about two hours, all of the negativism, all of the
acrimony, all of the bad feeling that had been there for years started to go away,"
Keady recalls. "It was a huge start in improving relations."

"Jack Curry reached out and embraced the community," recalls
Caller. "It took a good few years before the heavy curtain of mistrust be-
gan to lift, but he certainly made enormous strides in bringing about a
hundred-and-eighty degree change in the relationship between the school and
the community."

After the meeting at the Callers' condo, Keady got to work to ease the
sometimes-raucous student behavior on the streets of the Fenway. He walked
the streets himself on Friday and Saturday nights to assess the level of rowdi-
ness. He talked with people in the neighborhood, like Scott Ashley, who was
also out walking to monitor the situation from the community perspective.
Later, Keady hired Ashley as a community liaison, and Curry charged a com-
mittee including residential life director Ronald Martel, university counsel
William Hulsey, and others to craft a stricter student behavior code for North-
eastern, with stiffer sanctions for misbehavior. The university also set up joint
neighborhood patrols with the Boston police; pushed several local eateries to
shut their doors earlier on weekend nights; and, perhaps most important,
helped convince Boston's Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission to revoke
the transportation license of the largest supplier of kegs to students living
in the Fenway.

Throughout 1991, Keady spent hours upon hours trying to reach an
out-of-court settlement with the groups and individuals who had sued the uni-
versity.^ The case, originally scheduled to come to trial in March of that year,
was continued to June, then to September. At that point. Northeastern dropped
its plans for the new apartment complex, not only because the university's
enrollments had fallen sharply but also to demonstrate good will toward the
Fenway neighborhood. Furthermore, the administration decided that future
student housing would be located on the west side of campus.

Thus, the lawsuit became moot."* But even before that, as early as Feb-
ruary 1991, neighbors — while still skeptical of Northeastern — acknowledged
that student rowdiness had abated and they expressed their approval of the
university's efforts to quell disturbances.^

Caller credits Curry's designation of Keady as his emissary, noting
that Keady is someone "whose word is a bond — a rarity today." Of Curry,
Caller says, "He deserves the highest level of credit for doing what he did. He
saw the merits of trying to establish good relations between the surrounding

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CHAPTER NINE

neighborhood and the university." The much-improved relations with the
Fenway neighbors would prove beneficial later on; when the university an-
nounced plans in early 1993 to build a recreation center on the Opera lot, the
neighbors allowed that work to proceed vsdthout opposition.

JN ortheastern was especially effective during the Curry era in its ef-
forts to strengthen ties with and to provide volunteer services to the Boston
public schools.

James Fraser, who directed Northea stern's new Center for Innovation
in Urban Education as of 1994 and who would later become dean of a new
School of Education after Curry retired, puts it this way: "During the Curry
presidency. Northeastern emerged as the university providing the most to the
Boston public schools in terms of scholarships, direct support, and faculty vol-
unteering time."

The figures bear out Eraser's assertion. In fiscal year 1993-94, Curry's
fourth year as president, a study by the urban education center found that
Northeastern's in-kind contributions to the Boston schools, in the form of
scholarships, pro bono work, and grants, stood at nearly $23 million. By fiscal
year 1995-96, that figure had jumped to $29 million.^ Northeastern supported
a wide variety of projects in the schools, collaborating with students, teach-
ers, and parents on projects such as mentoring students from Mission Hill's
Maurice J. Tobin elementary school, helping restructure high school science
and math curricula, and introducing students to health careers.

The university's strong connection to the Boston public schools goes
back as far as 1965, when U.S. District Court Judge W. Arthur Garrity ordered
21 greater Boston colleges and universities to help implement Boston's school
desegregation plan.^ That involvement led to the creation, in 1976, of an office
at Northeastern called the Urban Schools Collaborative, led by Gregory Coffin
and later by Paula Clark, which sought to work with and help improve the pub-
lic schools on an ongoing basis.

By the time Curry took over the presidency, the number of Northeast-
ern-run programs in the Boston schools had mushroomed, so, by 1993, the
decision was made to establish the Center for Innovation in Urban Education
to serve as a clearinghouse of ideas for schools, businesses, and government
agencies in Boston as well as across the state and nation.^ "That it was created
to coordinate the many services in Boston and to link them more closely to the
academic mission of the university was a very important step," says Fraser.

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FORGING NEW LINKS WITH NEIGHBORS NEAR AND FAR

One of the most significant — and certainly the most publicized — ef-
forts to help Boston students was Northeastern's Tobin Scholars Program.
Curry announced the initiative at his December 1989 inauguration, pledging
to "adopt" and mentor 100 Boston schoolchildren who, if they graduated from
high school and qualified for admission to Northeastern, would be granted
full-tuition scholarships.^ Two years later, under a program led by Holly Carter,
special assistant to Curry, and with help from Lara Ramey Thomas, an assistant

Students at Mission Hill's Maurice J. Tobin School wave the "tickets to success" given to them
by Northeastern; the children were promised full-tuition scholarships to the university if they
graduated from high school and qualified for admission.

for the program, Northeastern mentors began working with the first group of
children: 22 sixth graders from the Tobin School in Mission Hill.

Throughout the youngsters' junior high and high school years. North-
eastern volunteers met with them regularly for mentoring, tutoring, career
counseling, leadership development, community service, and family enrich-
ment. Two more Tobin sixth-grade classes were brought into the fold, in 1994
and 1997, bringing the total number of children in the program to 107.^° Stu-
dents from the first Tobin group would go on to become Northeastern fresh-
men in September 1998.

The Tobin School's principal, Janet Short, was always enthusiastic
about the program and about Curry's commitment to the children. "He has

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CHAPTER NINE

given our Tobin Scholars hope and a jump-start on life," she says. "I know of
no other president of a college or university who would personally show such
care and concern for the neighbors of such a large institution."

Many of the Tobin Scholars themselves also highly appreciated the
initiative. In December 1996, eighth-grader Maseresha Demes told the Boston
Globe that the program "means a lot to me. [It] keeps me focused." And
surveys taken at the Tobin School showed that the scholarship program led

to better attendance, less tardiness,
and higher grades. ^^

Another project to help the
Boston schools came in the form of
a $5 million grant from the National
Science Foundation, awarded to David
Blackman, an assistant engineering
dean, to fund an initiative aimed at im-
proving math and science teaching for
minority schoolchildren in Boston.

Curry made it a point to pro-
vide scholarships for other Boston stu-
dents as well. In December 1994, he
announced that Northeastern would
guarantee scholarships to certain
Boston students — partial scholarships
for those graduating from high school
with a B average or better, and full
scholarships for those graduating in
the top 5 percent of their class and scor-
ing 1150 or higher on the Scholastic Aptitude Test.^^ The pledge, Curry said,
responded to a challenge from Boston Mayor Thomas Menino to the area's col-
leges and universities to give all qualified city students a chance to attend col-
lege. As a way of thanking Northeastern, Menino chose to give his 1995 State
of the City address in the university's Blackman Auditorium.

"Jack Curry saw well past the school's property line," says Menino,
"and into the communities that were affected by his decisions. He worked con-
sistently and cooperatively with my administration by supporting efforts to
improve the quality of life for both the students and residents. Northeastern
University generously reached out to Boston students with financial assistance
and full tuition to the school. The investment in the lives of those children is
Jack Curry's legacy."

Mayor Thomas Menino delivers his State
of the City address at Northeastern in 1995.

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FORGING NEW LINKS WITH NEIGHBORS NEAR AND FAR

Northeastern also built up political capital with the city by volunteer-
ing to oversee a study of the financial management of the Boston public
schools in 1991, with the goal of finding ways to cut expenses. ^^ Although
Mayor Raymond Flynn initially favored Boston University, the school com-
mittee rejected that idea, saying that BU president John Silber had been too
critical of the city's schools and could not conduct a fair review. Silber wasn't
happy about Northeastern being chosen over his school, even suggesting a
conflict of interest on the university's part because school committee chair
John O' Bryant was also Northeastem's vice president for student affairs. But
Curry defended Northeastem's qualifications. "I don't see any reason why
we have to take a back seat to BU or BC or anyone else in terms of doing
this study," he said at the time. "There's no university in the city that could do
abetter job."^'*

Curry put senior vice president and treasurer Robert Culver in charge
of the study, based on his previous experience of performing consulting work
for the schools when he worked at Coopers and Lybrand. Culver, in turn, was
assisted by a 20-member team including Clark of the Urban Schools Collab-
orative, Northeastern faculty members from business, political science, and
education, and experts from public school systems around the state. North-
eastem's 200-page report, issued in July 1991, detailed more than 50 recom-
mendations for improvement, all focused on rendering management of the
schools more efficient. ^^

Culver's involvement in the study led to his being appointed by Flynn
in January 1992 to Boston's new school committee after the elected committee
was disbanded.!'' Serving as head of the committee's powerful administration
and finance subcommittee. Culver helped the schools manage to achieve a
balanced budget — the first in many years — as well as aided in crafting a new
teachers' contract.

Northeastem's efforts on the study and the school committee gave the
university standing in the community as an "intellectual participant," Culver
says. "It allowed us to be seen as an institution that could bring about posi-
tive change."

Northeastern was also recognized for Curry's personal involvement
in supporting the cause of public education, most notably through his active
role as a trustee of the Boston Plan for Excellence, a foundation aimed at rais-
ing scholarship dollars and collaborating with the public schools to improve
education. Through his work on the plan, Curry maintained substantial con-
tact with financial, corporate, civic, and community leaders from Boston. Ellen
Guiney, executive director of the organization since 1995, credits Curry with

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CHAPTER NINE

helping the Boston Plan redirect its focus from running small programs for
teachers to tackling the Boston public schools' more systemic issues. Curry
chaired a committee that assisted in gauging individual schools' readiness to
address such issues. "He did a wonderful job," says Guiney. "He led a group
of people who made site visits to schools and he kept it very fair and objective.
He was a very good leader."

JDeyond cooperating with the Boston public schools, Northeastern en-
gaged in a number of local projects benefiting the city as well as the university.

Says Culver, "Jack understood the need to be able to work with and im-
prove the city, and that we could only improve if the city improved. Working to
address both institutional needs and community needs to realize our unique
goals was what it was all about."

In addition to thawdng icy relations with neighbors in the Fenway, the
university extended other efforts to improve conditions in that area. Most no-
tably. Northeastern was heavily involved with the Boston-Fenway Program
(later renamed the Fenway Alliance), a consortium of 13 cultural and educa-
tional institutions focused on improving conditions along the Fenway's main
thoroughfares, Huntington Avenue and Massachusetts Avenue. With Curry as
chair, vice president for business John Martin as treasurer and a key commit-
tee member, and James Lydon as executive director, the organization suc-
ceeded in convincing the city of Boston to create a "Fenway cultural district"
and to contribute $400,000 in planning funds to transform Huntington Av-
enue into a more appealing, pedestrian-friendly boulevard, as well as to high-
light its cultural and educational institutions.^'' Securing funds from the city
— along with lobbying from Curry, Martin, and James Kerasiotes, then-chair
of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority — helped the group to con-
vince the state to pledge about $9 million to revitalize Huntington Avenue
from Massachusetts Avenue to Brigham Circle. Enhancements to that section
of Huntington Avenue, designated "Avenue of the Arts" by the city included
sidewalk widening and resurfacing, landscape improvements, tree planting,
new traffic signals, acorn streetlights, new MBTA shelters, and better sign-
age. ^^ A traffic island near the comer of Huntington Avenue and Gainsbor-
ough Street, for example, was transformed from a concrete triangle into a
green space filled with trees, flowers, and flags. The Boston-Fenway group also
worked to beautify the neighborhood and upgrade other major roadways near
Northeastern, including Ruggles Street, Tremont Street, Columbus Avenue,
and Melnea Cass Boulevard.'''

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FORGING NEW LINKS WITH NEIGHBORS NEAR AND FAR

Under Curry, Northeastern sustained its long-standing commit-
ment to the Fenway Community Health Center by donating $25,000 a year
to underpin the work of the center in providing medical care as well as
mental health and additional services to New England's gay and lesbian
community.^" Northeastern also contributed to a holiday toy drive and
hosted an annual community Thanksgiving dinner for the Little Brothers -
Friends of the Elderly. The university's engagement with the community ex-
tended even further; in wintertime, the university plowed local streets and re-
paired a malfunctioning heating system at St. Anne's Catholic Church on
St. Stephens Street.

On the south side of campus, across the train tracks in Lower Rox-
bury. Northeastern stepped up its involvement with local groups and with de-
velopment projects that held the potential to benefit both the community and
the university.

One such project — a city plan to develop the so-called Parcel 18, a
tract of land just south of the Ruggles train station — began during the Ryder
administration. At that time, the city had linked the development of Parcel 18
with an undeveloped downtown Boston parcel, so as to spur interest in the
Roxbury site. After many years of discussion by the Parcel 18-f- Task Force,
which included representatives from Northeastern, the community, and the
city, construction on the first of four planned structures began in 1992. In
April 1994, the Registry of Motor Vehicles moved in, only to vacate the site a
year later after scores of employees complained of health problems brought on
by the building itself.^^ After a $6 million renovation. Northeastern bought
the building and three nearby parcels for $17 million.^^

Down the street from Parcel 18, a university-owned building at 716
Columbus Avenue was completely refurbished. Since 1984, when Northeast-
ern bought the property, the former cigar factory had been leased out or used
for storage. But in the early 1990s, as Northeastern moved to rid itself of ex-
pensive leases and to consolidate offices in university-owned buildings, the de-
cision was made to rehab 716 Columbus Avenue.^^ Completed in 1994, the
$6.2 million renovation provided comfortable new space for numerous uni-
versity administrative departments as well as adding to the lustre of the neigh-
borhood. Initially, the move had been resisted by some administrators who
had safety concerns about the area. But Curry persisted with the plan, which
he felt was important not just for space reasons but because it indicated the
university's desire to locate one of its important administration buildings in an
area that, in the past, had been both physically and symbolically cut off from
Northeastern because it was "on the other side of the tracks" and home to a
lower-income, minority population.

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Across the street from 716 Columbus Avenue, Northeastern had
pushed for yet another development in the late 1980s and early 1990s — a track
and recreation center to be built by the state, but maintained and operated by
the university. The plan emerged as the state was looking to construct a track
for its high school athletes — coaches had been lobbying for such a track since
the mid-1950s — and Northeastern was interested in a recreation center for its
students. Northeastern officials hoped that the building could be shared by
the university, the high schools, and members of the local community. The
project almost went through, with university counsel Vincent Lembo work-
ing hard for its approval, but it ultimately failed to materialize after former
Governor Michael Dukakis, who had supported the plan, left office in Janu-
ary 1991 and Governor William Weld stepped in. Less enthusiastic about the
Northeastern plan, Weld later approved construction of a high school track just
down the road on Tremont Street, near Roxbury Community College; that
track would eventually be named for Northeastern's greatest athlete, hoop star
Reggie Lewis, who died in summer 1993.

Jjeyond its immediate neighborhood. Northeastern was involved in
other projects that produced benefits for all parts of the city.

In April 1993, Northeastern formed a partnership with City Year,
a Boston-based urban peace corps, to provide scholarships to qualified stu-
dents in the program. ^"^ At that time, Northeastern also cosponsored a federal
grant proposal with City Year to begin a summer youth service program. In
May, the White House chose Northeastern and City Year for the $380,000
grant.25 Part of President Clinton's national service initiative, the grant enabled
Northeastern and City Year to create summer jobs for 75 young adults in
Boston and Chelsea. In summer 1993, the youths worked at camps, promoted
vaccinations and health checkups for city families, participated in a rehab
project to restore an abandoned site in Roxbury, and helped in a city-vvdde
cleanup program.

Northeastern also partnered with Mayor Flynn and the Boston Bar As-
sociation in 1990 to sponsor the Mayor's Youth Leadership Corps, a program
to identify and support urban youths who showed leadership potential in
school activities, community work, or athletics. ^^

Many of Northeastern's colleges — including Bouve, business, engi-
neering, and nursing — also sponsored ongoing programs with the city. The
criminal justice college worked closely with the Boston Police Department on

174

FORGING NEW LINKS WITH NEIGHBORS NEAR AND FAR

a number of issues. Faculty members from the college, including John McDe-
vitt and dean James Fox, cooperated with the police in developing a strategic
plan, advised on hate crime issues, and conducted research for the department
when it overhauled management practices after negative publicity about police
misconduct. Beyond that, the college's affiliation with the Justice George Lev^s
Ruffin Society continued to build bridges between the minority community
and criminal justice professionals and helped to promote the advancement of
minorities in the criminal justice field.

Northeastern also made it a point during the Curry years to open the
doors of its facilities to community and city groups. Matthews Arena, for ex-
ample, hosted Boston's high school hockey league as well as community skat-
ing and local graduation ceremonies.

The city, in turn, demonstrated its appreciation for Northeastern on
several occasions. In September 1992, the university — chastised as one of the
city's "worst neighbors" in 1990, mostiy because of litter problems surround-
ing its buildings — was saluted as the "most improved neighbor" after it em-
barked on an aggressive cleanup campaign.^^ Ed Burke, director of the Mayor's
Office of Neighborhood Services, said of Northeastern at the time, "It shows
they're paying attention to our concerns, that the institution is part of the com-
munity." Just two months later. Northeastern was named the city's best non-
profit institution for its many financial and personal contributions to Boston. ^^
Curry was delighted. Keady's response at the time: "The president's philoso-
phy is, 'Let's do what we can for the city. We're a part of this city and we want
to be an active participant.' "

i he university deepened its involvement in state politics as well,
largely through Curry's speaking out on issues important to the future of
Northeastern and other higher education institutions.

Curry worked particularly hard, not only as president of Northeastern
but also as chairman of the Association of Independent Colleges and Univer-
sities of Massachusetts in the early 1990s, to bolster flagging levels of state
financial aid for students. After student aid dropped from a high of $84 mil-
hon in 1989 to $35 million in 1992, Curry lobbied tirelessly and very publicly
to bring the levels back up.^^ His efforts bore fruit when aid was boosted to
$61 million. "Jack was very good at lobbying," recalls Clare Cotton, president
of the association. "He perceived that it was a vital interest of Northeastern to
increase student aid levels, and it helped everybody else along the way."

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Curry also fought a 1993 proposed excise tax on colleges and univer-
sities, the brainchild of Mayor Flynn and two state legislators. In spite of his
need to maintain good relations with the mayor, Curry wrote an editorial in the
Boston Globe criticizing the claim of city officials that nonprofits use munici-
pal services without paying for them, noting that at Northeastern, as at most
universities, "we sweep our own streets, shovel our own snow, pick up our own
garbage, police our own grounds and our neighborhood, and even provide our

own ambulance service." ^° Curry went
on to enumerate the many ways that
Northeastern offered support and serv-
ices to the city, and challenged the
mayor to create more fruitful alliances
with colleges and universities. Curry
expressed similar points at a State
House hearing on the proposed tax. "I
feel that Jack's testimony is what killed
the bill," says Keady.

Curry got involved with the
statewide education reform effort in
1994; he was named by colleagues at
the Association of Independent Col-
leges and Universities of Massachu-
setts as their representative to Governor
Weld's Education Reform Committee,
a group of public school educators,
college administrators, and business-
people charged with overseeing the
state's massive investment in turning
around its public schools. And when
the state debated the merits of creating standardized tests to measure a so-
called core of learning, Curry, again in a Boston Globe opinion piece, publicly
criticized the proposal — although many of his colleagues were speaking out
in favor of the measure — warning that it was unfair to measure student suc-
cess against a rigid set of standards and that statewide examinations would
compel teachers to "teach to the test."^^

Curry was especially proud of the fact that he and other Northeastern
officials nurtured a good relationship with Governor Weld, even though Weld,
a Republican, had eyed the university warily at first for its long-standing rela-
tionships with high-level Democrats. Indeed, relations were so cordial that

Massachusetts governor William We!<
delivers the keynote address at
Northeastern's 1995 commencement
ceremony at the Boston Garden.

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FORCING NEW LINKS WITH NEIGHBORS NEAR AND FAR

Weld agreed to give the 1995 commencement address to Northeastern gradu-
ates and appointed Curry, on his retirement, to the Massport board of directors.

i\t the federal level, Curry was actively engaged on several fronts,
fighting for legislation and funding to benefit Northeastern and other private
colleges and universities. Part of Curry's clout derived from his leadership role
with the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities
(NAICU). Chair of the organization's commission on campus concerns in
1992, Curry was elevated the following year to its board of directors and, ulti-
mately, to its executive committee. ^^ "Jack was one of a half dozen major play-
ers on the national scene, influencing public policy questions," says David
Warren, executive director of the national association.

In particular, Curry played a key role in protecting $20 billion in fed-
eral financial aid that Congress tried to eliminate in 1995. "Jack came down, he
spoke, he wrote, he connected with his members of Congress, and he helped
mobilize the Northeastern campus for call-ins," says Warren. "It had a pro-
found grassroots impact."

Curry was also "absolutely instrumental," says Warren, in thwarting
an attempt by Congress in 1992 to establish what some thought would have
been an instrusive level of oversight into how Northeastern and other private
colleges and universities handled their federal student aid funds. Because of
the student loan crisis of the late 1980s, when the federal government faced bil-
lions of dollars in loan defaults, Congress considered establishing "state post-
secondary review entities" that would have closely monitored how private in-
stitutions dealt with federal monies. The law did go into effect, but effective
lobbying by Curry and other private higher education leaders whom he helped
mobilize against the plan cooperated in seeing to it that money was never au-
thorized to implement the plan.

Curry also did his part to convince Congress of the importance of pre-
serving federal funds for academic research. In 1994, he was one of a delega-
tion of college and university presidents from Massachusetts who traveled to
Washington, D.C., at the request of Cotton, to testify against a bill that threat-
ened to freeze reimbursements to higher education institutions for overhead
costs associated with research, because a few universities had been found to
have been abusing those monies. Moreover, Curry denounced the proposal in
a Boston Globe editorial in May 1994. "Let's not make the mistake of punishing
the innocent many for the sins of the guilty few," Curry wrote. "And more

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important, let's not sidetrack the research that will keep our nation competitive
in the future because a few schools got off track in the past. Spending money
on research has to be recognized for what it is: not extravagant or wasteful
spending but a prudent investment that will pay dividends in the economic
health of our nation in the years ahead.""

On other occasions, Curry articulated the importance of student
financial aid and federal support for cooperative education. In November 1992,
at NAICU's annual conference in Washington, D.C., Curry pushed federal
officials to adopt new financial aid strategies, noting specifically the need to
increase monies for Pell grants, the largest federal scholarship program for
middle-income students. ^"^ And, in July 1991, Curry urged a House of Repre-
sentatives subcommittee to expand federal programs for co-op."

Northeastern's biggest coup at the federal level was securing $15 mil-
lion in federal funds for the Egan engineering /science research center It was
the largest-ever Northeastern grant to come from Washington; previously, the
university had won $13.5 million for Snell Library in 1986.^*^

Keady, who was instrumental in helping Northeastern win the federal
funds, notes that Curry laid the groundwork in Washington shortly after he as-
sumed the presidency, by traveling there with Keady to meet key members of
the Massachussetts congressional delegation, including Representative
Joseph Moakley Senator Edward Kennedy, and Senator John Kerry. In Curry's
first year as president, when the university started to seek a federal appropria-
tion for the engineering /science center, Curry and Keady decided to showcase
the building as benefiting not just Northeastern but Boston as well, by creating
more local jobs in a tough economy as well as more opportunities for defense-
related research. To underscore the advantages the building would bring to the
city of Boston, Northeastern flew Boston Redevelopment Authority chief
Steven Coyle, Boston City Councilor Michael McCormack, and local union
carpenters to Washington to promote it.

Northeastern officials watched, waited, and strategized through three
years of political maneuvering — the proposal moved from the Senate to the
House of Representatives to a House-Senate conference committee — until
the money was approved. Key to the university's success, says Keady, was back-
ing from Kennedy and Moakley, as well as from lobbyists Christopher "Kip"
O'Neill and Jay Urwitz, whom Curry had hired early in his presidency to be
Northeastern's eyes and ears in Washington. The investment in their services
paid off handsomely when the $15 million check arrived.

Curry's personal relationship with Moakley also figured as a big plus,
as was Moakley 's friendship with Representative John Murtha of Pennsylva-

178

FORCING NEW LINKS WITH NEIGHBORS NEAR AND FAR

nia, who headed the defense appropriations subcommittee. Curry credits
trustee chair George Matthews 's own friendships with both Moakley and
Murtha as playing a key role in Northeastem's efforts on Capitol Hill. "He trav-
eled to Washington with me on a number of occasions and influenced the
process," Curry recalls.

Funds for the Egan Center were approved in May 1993. The univer-
sity's forceful presence on Capitol Hill to secure the Egan funds, Curry's pub-
lic advocacy and congressional testimony on national higher education issues,
the appearance of Barbara Bush as 1991 commencement speaker and her host-
ing of Curry at the White House to present him with a national landscaping
award for Northeastern, as well as efforts by Curry and Keady to nurture rela-
tionships with federal legislators, had all contributed to Northeastem's stand-
ing and reputation in Washington. So the university was already starting from
a strong position when it initiated its intense effort to persuade President Bill
Clinton to speak at Northeastern in June 1993. That effort began as soon as
Clinton was sworn in, in January 1993, and continued for several months —
until the White House announced in early May that Clinton had chosen, from
among hundreds of invitations from colleges and universities around the
country, to speak at Northeastem's graduation. Said a jubilant Curry at the
time: "It's a banner day for Northeastern, and most especially for the thou-
sands of talented students who come to college here."^''

179

The Centennial Pathway, which winds from Centennial Common toward Snell Library (rear) and is
bordered by the new classroom building (left) and the Egan Engineering/Science Research Center
(right), highlights the transformation of the west side of the Northeastern campus.

CHAPTER TEN

A Campus Transformed

1 HROUGHOUTTHE EARLY AND MID-1990S, the philosophy of" Smaller
but better" helped Northeastern navigate its way through turbulent economic
times while improving the institution's academic quality. But Jack Curry and
other senior officials believed that boosting entrance requirements, establish-
ing new programs, and hiring high-quality faculty members were not enough
to keep the university afloat, let alone set it on a sound course for the future.
Equally important, they felt — and inextricably tied to the goal of improving
academics and making Northeastern more competitive — was creating a more
workable and welcoming campus environment.

And so, early in his presidency, Curry led a group of top adminis-
trators— treasurer Robert Culver, vice president for business John Martin,
and Charles Hallenborg, director of physical planning — in conjunction with
local consultant Sasaki Associates, in reshaping the university's master
plan. Updated in 1991, 1993, and 1995, the plan called for open spaces and
prominent gateways to give Northeastern a more significant presence in the
city. The plan envisioned a host of new structures, cutting-edge research fa-
cilities, a recreation center, a modern classroom building, rehabilitation of
the student center, extensive landscaping projects, high-quality classroom
space, major building renovations, parking development, and additional stu-
dent housing.^

A tall order. But, in less than 10 years, the key recommendations of
the master plan had been realized.^ From the grand Snell Library — conceived
during the Ryder era and completed during Curry's first year as president — to
the dramatic Marino Recreation and Fitness Center with its stunning, angled
wall of glass, built in Curry's last year, the Huntington Avenue campus was
fundamentally transformed during Curry's presidency.

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CHAPTER TEN

Architecture professor Peter Serenyi described the transformation in
an essay for a book called Tradition and Innovation: Reflections on Northeastern
University's First Century, published by Northeastern in 1998 as part of its cen-
tennial celebration. Serenyi noted that Curry — in spite of dropping enroll-
ments that forced drastic budget cuts, a hiring freeze, and staff layoffs — still
moved forward with "unprecedented speed" on the creation of a warm, wel-
coming, modern campus. Serenyi summed up: "It was as if someone had
waved a magic wand." ^

In just seven years' time, the university spent $100 million — $15 mil-
lion a year — on four new buildings, eight major renovations, and a host of
other infrastructure improvements. The new structures increased the cam-
pus's physical facilities by 10 percent. At the same time, the university em-
barked on a multimillion-dollar project to link all campus computers to one
another and to databases around the world through a modern fiber-optic cable
network. To create this data communications infrastructure to support Inter-
net and intranet services and applications, the university purchased thousands
of new computers for faculty and administrators and improved and expanded
computer laboratories. The initiative placed Northeastern in the vanguard of
universities in the technological and communications revolution. Further, the
university invested heavily in upgrading research laboratories and construct-
ing new ones.

It was not in Northeastern's nature to spend millions of dollars on
new infrastructure at such a fast pace, particularly at a time when those dollars
were becoming harder and harder to come by. In the past, university officials
had proceeded cautiously when it came to spending, preferring instead to
transfer any surpluses to the endowment or the plant improvement fund for
small projects. They had moved ahead one building at a time and leased a
number of older properties, particularly for classrooms and residence halls. So
when the decision was made to commence a comprehensive building cam-
paign during a recession, it was indeed a leap of faith for Northeastern.

But in Curry's mind, all the work was essential, in spite of the univer-
sity's precarious budget situation, because Northeastern had to improve dra-
matically and visibly if it was to survive successfully into the next century. In
keeping with his "smaller but better" philosophy, creating a beautiful, practi-
cal, and efficient campus of the future was a prerequisite to becoming "better."

"While we were having difficulties with enrollments and budgets, we
were still trying to invest in our future," he explains. "We were never going to
get applications and enrollments up, or solidify our position once again, with-

182

A CAMPUS TRANSFORMED

out a qualitative improvement in the environment as we moved from a com-
muter to a more residential population. We really needed to invest in things
that resident students and commuters expected: an inviting student center,
good eating facilities, recreational space, meeting space, improved residences,
modem classrooms, park benches, and green space — all things that were be-
ing provided by the competition."

Culver was a strong proponent of campus improvements and used
his considerable creative energies to secure the money and means to make
them happen. From the first day he came to campus, Culver sought ways to
eliminate the "hard macadam, utilitarian feel" he perceived at Northeastern.

"During the early years of the Curry presidency," Culver recalls,
"we had declining enrollments, rising costs, and increasing competition from
other schools for a shrinking pool of students. While we knew we had to ad-
dress issues of class size, financial aid, and retention, it was also clear to me
and the president that we would have to change the look and feel and overall
physical experience of being at Northeastern University. Not only would we
have to be smaller and better, but we would have to go from being a 'hard'
campus to a 'soft' campus environment, one that invited you to enjoy your ex-
perience. As a result, we sought to establish, architecturally and structurally, a
sense of place that incorporated both the urban environment as well as the stu-
dents' and faculty's desire to feel and be safe as well as have a welcoming,
aesthetic sense for the university. Without this, we knew that we would no
longer be able to compete with the institutions that were now seeking to enroll
our students."

To pay for all the enhancements, Northeastern relied on a creative mix
of borrowing through tax-exempt bonds, refinancing debt at lower interest
rates, reallocating expenditures, increasing private contributions, eliminating
costly leases, and aggressively pursuing government grants. When possible,
the cost of new construction was offset by introducing revenue-producing
operations, such as food services and conference centers. And, throughout
Curry's presidency, the university watched its money very carefully. "We truly
were very cost-conscious in every construction effort we undertook," says
Culver. "We became experts in value engineering."

Although the university did spend $100 million on improvements, it
was able to divide the costs into a series of manageable spending packages over
the seven years of Curry's presidency. Assistant treasurer Joseph Murphy took
advantage of low interest rates to refinance the university's debt, keeping
annual payments stable while generating millions in spendable dollars. The

183

CHAPTER TEN

construction of new buildings also offered perfect opportunities for prominent
alumni to make multimillion-dollar contributions to their alma mater — to
give their money and their names — to structures bearing testament to the
growing stature of Northeastern.

1 rior to Curry's tenure, the most intensive buildup of the campus
occurred during the Knowles presidency. Between 1959 and 1975, the Hunt-
ington Avenue campus grew from 18 to 50 acres. Twelve new buildings were
constructed and four branch campuses were opened. Knowles also oversaw ex-
tensive remodeling of existing facilities.'* Then, between 1989 and 1996, when
Curry was president, structural improvements to campus came fast and furi-
ous once again. The most significant additions were Snell Library, the Egan
Engineering /Science Research Center, the Marino Recreation and Fitness
Center, the renovated student center, and the new classroom building.^

The library, the crowning achievement of the Ryder presidency,
opened in 1990. The $34 million structure boasted 240,000 square feet of
space, shelf space for 1.5 million books, a $1 million computerized catalog and
circulation system, more than 100 personal computer workstations linked to
the university-wide information network, and extensive media equipment and
capabilities.'' The library was funded partly by a gift from alumnus George
Snell, secured by Curry in his first year as president, partly by a $13.5 million
government grant, and partly through university reserves and fimdraising.

The $30 million Egan Engineering/Science Research Center, com-
pleted in 1996, provided a premier research facility for Northeastern and was
clearly the cornerstone of Curry's building campaign. The state-of-the-art,
95,000-square-foot center included space for university engineers, physicists,
chemists, and computer scientists working on topics ranging from robotics to
signal processing to chipmaking to environmental cleanup. Richard Egan, a
1961 engineering graduate who, with his v^fe Maureen, gave $6.7 million to-
ward the building — at that time the largest-ever donation to Northeastern —
said that he was "certain that an investment in Northeastern will pay dividends
for many generations to come."^ The remainder of the building's cost was
funded by bonds and by a $15 million federal grant, the largest-ever such grant
to Northeastern.

A third grand building, the $12 million, 81,000-square-foot Marino
Recreation Center, opened in September 1996, thanks in part to a $5.5 mil-

184

A CAMPUS TRANSFORMED

lion donation from 1961 engineering graduate Roger Marino and his wife
Michelle.^ The three-story facihty, with its eye-catching sweep of curved
windows, created an impressive new gateway (and Hving billboard) for North-
eastern at the corner of Huntington Avenue and Forsyth Stieet. The build-
ing featured a suspended track, basketball courts, exercise machines, free
weights, aerobics areas, and revenue-producing cafes and stores on the
ground floor.

The Maureen and Richard J. Egan Engineering/Science Research Center

A new $8 million classroom building, finished in 1995, also incorpo-
rated a dramatic curved glass facade that dominated the east-west pathway
through campus.^ The 56,000-square-foot structure housed 14 semicircular
classrooms connected to the university network, so that faculty could "plug
in" to media resources based at the library to offer computer-assisted lectures
and demonstrations. The building also included a state-of-the-art multimedia
center. "We can bring the world into these classrooms," notes assistant history
professor Gerald Herman, who, along with other faculty members, was deeply
involved in the planning of the building. The completion of the classroom
building enabled Northeastern to drop leased and inferior classroom space at
both the YMCA and the Getting School.

185

CHAPTER TEN

The university created dozens of other new, high-quaUty classrooms
through renovation. The virtual total rebuilding of Dodge Hall was but the
most visible example of imaginative recycling. Michael Baer, who served as
provost during most of Curry's presidency, from 1990 through 1998, says the
new buildings and the crucial classroom renovations made a noticeable dif-
ference to the academic operation. "When 1 arrived on campus in 1990," says
Baer, "one of the major complaints of faculty was that they could not keep the

^l^lTHEASTEl

The new classroom building featured state-of-the-art computer and media capability.

attention of students in classrooms that were old, without adequate black-
boards, and dirty because of constant use from early morning to late evening.
By the time I left, we had dozens of new and renovated rooms that not only
had blackboards but also were connected to the Internet, had access to mod-
ern video and audio technology, and were light, clean, and cheerfiil. This
made a difference to both students and faculty To know that the university
values its educational space reflects well on its commitment to delivering a
high-quality education."

The $12 million rehabilitation of the Dodge building, which had
served as Northeastern's library since 1953, provided the College of Business
Administration, which had been making do with inferior office and classroom
space in Hayden Hall, with a new home. Curry and business dean David Boyd

186

A CAMPUS TRANSFORMED

traveled around the country to pitch the renovation plan to alumni, corpora-
tions, and foundations, eventually raising about 40 percent of the project's
cost. The finished product, completed in 1993, was well worth it: Dodge was
re-created into a state-of-the-art classroom and meeting facility for the busi-
ness college, including caserooms equipped with multimedia technology, a
corporate-like marble-floored lobby, a cafe for faculty and student interaction,
wide corridors, and small conference rooms. ^" The renovated building, says
Boyd, enhanced the academic experience for students, as well as projecting an
image of excellence to the outside world.

Other major academic upgrades included a $1.5 million rehabilita-
tion of Ryder Hall in 1995 and a $4 million renovation of the law school in
1990." The Ryder Hall refurbishment provided 25 new classrooms, an atrium,
a food service area, and a new entryway for the building, as well as improve-
ments for people with disabilities. At the law school, the renovation upgraded
and expanded the library and converted the entire Knowles building, which
previously had been shared with the College of Criminal Justice, to the School
of Law's exclusive use.

The $16 million revitalization of the Student Center brought new vi-
brancy and functionality to a 30-year-old building that had grown dismal and
inefficient over the years. ^^ Funded through student fees and contributions
from vendors operating in the building, the renovation, completed in 1995, in-
cluded the addition of a 4,000-square-foot glass-enclosed eating area on the
ground floor, a new food court, a revamped indoor quad with grand staircases
and a glass elevator, extra retail outlets, and, on the upper floors, upgraded hall-
ways and meeting rooms for student organizations.

The university also fashioned a new office building out of a former
factory and storage facility at 716 Columbus Avenue. The six-floor building,
which Northeastern had purchased in 1984 and had leased to outside tenants
for a decade, became a comfortable new home for hundreds of university ad-
ministrators and staff in 1994 when the $6.2 million renewal was finished. The
move represented Northeastem's first foray across the train tracks into the pre-
dominanfly minority community to its south. ^^

vJther renovations offered significant improvements for the uni-
versity's sports, intramurals, and recreational programs, complementing the
benefits provided by the newly built Marino Center. The new Henderson Boat-
house in Brighton was completed in 1989 at a cost of $2.5 million.^'^ The

187

CHAPTER TEN

award-winning wooden building, designed by renowned architect Graham
Gund, assured an eye-catching new home on the Charles River for the North-
eastern men's and women's crew teams.

Curry's first major renovation project, in fall 1989, was a $1.2 million
upgrade of the Cabot Physical Education Center; a multipurpose rubber sur-
face for basketball, tennis, and track replaced the old banked track and dirt
floor.i^ Other improvements in the mid-1990s included converting a gymnas-
tics practice area to a multifunctional reception room, enhancing space for
women's athletics, updating the basketball gymnasium, and making Cabot ac-
cessible to those with physical disabilities.

A $1.5 million renewal of Matthews Arena, completed in 1995, re-
placed what had been one of the smallest playing surfaces in the Boston area
with an Olympic-sized ice rink. The work also included technical improve-
ments to the ice floor, the squaring off of rounded corners, and better sight
lines for the audience, meaning better conditions for the hockey team as well
as the figure skaters who use Matthews. With the renovation, the historic 1909
building — the oldest operating arena in the country — continued as one of the
most heavily used facilities at Northeastern, playing host not only to hockey
and figure skaters but also to nationally televised skating shows, concerts,
graduations, and other special events. ^'^

The university also spent $1.5 million on a substantial makeover of
Parsons Field, Northeastem's outdoor athletic field in Brookline. The work
included a new field surface with improved drainage, new baseball dugouts,
new women's and visitors' locker rooms, a remodeled press box, and a new
scoreboard. ^^ The improvements were essential to Northeastem's being ac-
cepted into the Yankee Conference in football.

At the Varsity Club in Matthews Arena, a $750,000 remodeling cre-
ated a glassed-in viewing section so that club guests could view activities on the
arena floor. The dining and lounge areas were also expanded to accommodate
more people. ^^ In 1992, the club was renamed for alumnus George Makris, a
former Northeastern standout in football, baseball, and hockey and a member
of the university's Hall of Fame, honoring him for spearheading successful
fundraising efforts for the Parsons Field and Matthews Arena renovations.^^

I ust as new and renovated buildings were key elements in the crea-
tion of a more welcoming, more competitive Northeastern, so too was the

188

A CAMPUS TRANSFORMED

improvement of the campus's outdoor spaces. For most of its history, the uni-
versity's main campus had evolved as a study in whites, grays, and blacks, with
only an occasional bench to break up the stark palette. The master plan re-
vealed, however, that a prime objective would be "to create a distinctive, in-
viting campus setting that reinforces the quality of place at Northeastern
University." ^^

In addition to calling for substantial new academic buildings, the plan
emphasized the importance of creating distinctive gateways at various campus
entrances as well as "memorable outdoor spaces." Providing outdoor areas for
eating, study, or quiet reflection, the master plan indicated, would be a "key
element to improving the campus quality." The plan also proposed establish-
ing a winding, east-west mall extending from the library across Forsyth Street
to Parker Street and featuring an open lawn, broad walkways, and trees. ^^ In
short, the idea was to turn a utilitarian commuter campus into a residential
campus that would appeal to all students.

Curry and his colleagues set about replacing asphalt paths with red
brick, creating courtyards and open spaces filled with color and dimension,
and enlivening the campus with sculptures, all to provide a suitable context for
the new and renovated buildings that projected a different, fuller character
for Northeastern. These changes would prove crucial in rendering the cam-
pus inviting to students, parents, alumni, and potential donors. More than
just being welcoming, however, the new campus was aimed at showcasing
Northeastern as a place of substance and academic quality.

The renewed campus represented a sea change in the feel of North-
eastern. Throughout the 1960s and early 1970s, President Knowles had shown
little patience for "prettifying" the campus, and so almost all the buildings
remained plain rectangular boxes made of "Northeastern brick," ^^ sticking
closely to the original design of the campus prepared by Coolidge, Shepley,
Bullfinch, and Abbott back in the mid-1930s. The interior of the buildings was
similarly plain. The campus took on color during the Ryder years, with the ad-
dition of a law school building imbued with muted purple and blue slate, and
the red-brick Kariotis Hall, a classroom building.^^

Ryder also introduced the greening of the campus that would be
greatly expanded during the Curry presidency. In one of the most dra-
matic changes, the main quad on Huntington Avenue, for many years the
site of unbecoming asphalt paths and a few trees, was redone with red-
brick pathways, wooden benches, and a variety of plants. ^"^ The landscaper
for that project, William Pressley of Cambridge, continued to serve through

189

CHAPTER TEN

the Curry era as the university's landscape architect for a host of other loca-
tions on campus.

The largest and most visible landscaping upgrade during the Curry
years was Centennial Common, a $300,000 project on 1.75 acres between
the new classroom building, a renovated Ryder Hall, the new Egan Research
Center, and the Ruggles MBTA station. The common, finished in Septem-
ber 1995, featured perennial plantings and trees, a gazebo, a wide expanse of

Hallenborg Way, a pathway between Leon Street and Huntington Avenue, was named in memory
of Northeastern's physical planning director, Charles Hallenborg.

lawn, benches, lighting, and brick walkways, and functioned as an important
connector between the east and west sides of campus. ^^

Other landscaping around campus covered a total of 15 acres, trans-
forming about 70,000 square feet into winding paths and peaceful courtyards.
One such pathway, between Leon Street and Huntington Avenue, was named,
appropriately, for Hallenborg, who had played a major role in the campus's
physical development before his death in 1991. ^^ Taken together, the changes
won the university wide-ranging professional recognition. Awards came in
from the American Association of Nurserymen, the Boston Society of Land-
scape Architects, and the National Landscaping Association, all noting the sig-

190

A CAMPUS TRANSFORMED

nificant outdoor improvements.^^ In 1992, First Lady Barbara Bush personally
presented the first of these awards to Curry and Culver at the White House.
To support the ongoing landscaping effort at Northeastern, trustee
Harvey "Chet" Krentzman and his wife Farla gave the university a $700,000
permanent endowment in 1996 to ensure that the campus's trees, plantings,
and green spaces would endure for future generations of students and fac-
ulty. ^^ In turn. Northeastern named its main quad for Krentzman, a 1949 me-

Northeastern's Huntington Avenue quad was named for trustee Harvey "Chet" Krentzman and
his wife Farla after they provided a permanent endowment for landscaping at the university.

chanical engineering graduate, and provided more prominence to the quad by
building a curved brick wall facing Huntington Avenue, bearing the words
"Northeastern University."

The landscaping was further enhanced by the addition of a hand-
ful of striking outdoor sculptures. In October 1993, Northeastern installed
the first of the these sculptures, a 1,000-pound likeness of Cy Young, base-
ball's all-time most winning pitcher. ^^ Young, of the Boston Americans, had
pitched the first game of the inaugural World Series in October 1903,
which had been played on the former Huntington Avenue Baseball Grounds,
the site on which Northeastern was later built. Thus the sculpture, depicting

191

CHAPTER TEN

Young warming up for a pitch, was placed on the grass in front of Churchill
Hall in what would have been almost the exact location of the original pitch-
ing mound. And across the path from Young's statue, on another patch
of grass, was placed a replica of home plate. The statue of Young and the
home plate replica, sculpted by Bob Shure, were funded by a $65,000 grant
from the Yawkey Foundation, established by late Red Sox owners Tom and
Jean Yawkey.

F*^^^:;

Later that same October, Stan-
ley Young, a 1946 liberal arts gradu-
ate, announced that he would donate
to Northeastern a nine-and-a-half-foot
sculpture called the Flame of Hope.^^
The 590-pound twist of bronze, created
by artist Leonardo Neirman, was later
placed near Cabot Cage, on the corner
of Huntington Avenue and Forsyth
S treet. When the sculpture was unveiled
the following September, Curry noted,
"We are working aggressively to posi-
tion Northeastern as the premier urban
university in America. A college cam-
pus is a place of learning and study, and
of reflection and contemplation. The
acquisition of important works of art
helps complete our efforts to create this
attractive environment for those who
study or teach or work or visit here."^^
To bolster the effort to acquire donated
public art for campus, in 1993 vice pres-
ident Martin formed an outdoor sculp-
ture committee (later renamed the university art committee), a group of faculty
and staff charged with generating, evaluating, and placing artwork on campus.
Young, leader of a successful software company, proceeded to contrib-
ute scores of sculptures and tapestries during Curry's term. Indeed, his dona-
tions made possible the creation of a sculpture park, sited between the student
center and the train tracks, which was planned during the Curry administra-
tion and was completed in September 1997. The 42,000-square-foot space, also
designed by Pressley, featured several sculptures, a large black orb doubling

A bronze likeness of Cy Young, baseball's
winningest pitcher, was installed outside
Churchill Hall on the site of the original
pitching mound of the old Huntington
Avenue Baseball Grounds.

192

A CAMPUS TRANSFORMED

as a fountain, a running stream with a small bridge, and trees, plantings,
and benches. ^^

New artwork graced the interior of Northeastern's buildings as well,
much of it in Snell Library and mostly gifts of alumnus Arthur Goldberg, who
made an initial donation of several works in 1994 and others in later years. The
new paintings and lithographs "put the library on a whole new aesthetic
plane," says library dean Alan Benenfeld. Tapestries and sculptures were in-
stalled in the student center and a col-
lection of woodcuts and etchings by
Ruth Leaf, contributed by Margaret D.
and Nels A. Palm III in 1995, went on
display in Ryder Hall."

L/uring the Curry years,
Northeastern acquired or leased sev-
eral new off-campus properties and
renovated others.

In 1994, the university leased
new space for University College's
downtown campus at 89 Broad Street
in Boston, spending $2 million to ren-
ovate the 23,000-square-foot property
and nearly tripling the classroom space
available for the college's financial dis-
trict facility. ^^

Also in 1994, the Warren Cen-
ter in Ashland was renovated and con-
verted into a year-round conference center featuring meeting rooms, guest
rooms, a main lodge, and dining facilities, all situated on 165 acres of wood-
land and meadow near the Ashland Reservoir. The $625,000 project generated
revenue of $1.2 milhon in 1994-95 and $1.5 million in 1995-96 and gave the
university a higher level of exposure among local industry leaders, who used
the site for corporate events." In addition, Henderson House, the university's
original off-campus conference site, was substantially upgraded and marketed
far more aggressively as an income-producing venue, producing revenues of
about $250,000 a year with no expenditure increases.

Leonardo Neirman's Flame of Hope, placed
at the corner of Huntington Avenue and
Forsyth Street, was the gift of alumnus
Stanley Young.

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CHAPTER TEN

In 1992, the university greatly improved both its research laboratories
and office space at the Marine Science Center in Nahant, spending $400,000
and adding another 4,000 square feet of space, enough to accommodate up to
eight visiting scientists. ^^

Northeastern also bought and renovated a warehouse in Jamaica
Plain called Marbury Terrace to expand and centralize the university's trans-
portation, storage, and warehousing operations. The $3.8 million facility, ac-
quired in 1991, included four floors of storage space, a central receiving
area, and locked cages for storing confidential data.^'' Moreover, by moving
warehousing operations off campus, the administration was able to free
space in Ryder Hall to turn that on-campus building into a first-class instruc-
tional facility.

The immediate area surrounding Northeastem's campus was also
upgraded during the Curry years, through the university's participation in
the Boston-Fenway Program. The consortium of cultural and educational
institutions that Curry chaired helped secure state funds to beautify Hunt-
ington Avenue from Massachusetts Avenue to Brigham Circle and also en-
deavored to revitalize other roadways near Northeastern such as Tremont
and Ruggles Streets and Melnea Cass Boulevard. All these moves, says
Curry, were calculated to enhance the appearance of the various approaches to
Northeastern.

i hese large-scale construction and renovation projects did not pre-
vent the university from making a priority of funding other significant needs,
like renovating or remodeling research laboratories and faculty and adminis-
trative offices.

In almost every year of Curry's tenure, the university dedicated more
than $1 million from year-end surpluses to the physical plant; by the time
Curry stepped down, more than $10 million in such improvements had been
completed.^^ Among these projects, providing top-quality teaching and re-
search space remained the overriding priority. Over the Curry years, the uni-
versity renovated laboratories in mechanical, chemical, and electrical engi-
neering; chemistry; biology; psychology; and pharmacy; as well as faculty
offices across the university. Substantial refurbishments were also made to
classrooms in Ryder Hall and in almost all other buildings on campus.

"Jack was very focused on infrastructure for research and instruc-
tional facilities on campus," says David Flynn, director of space planning and

194

A CAMPUS TRANSFORMED

analysis, who oversaw the plant renewal. "He understood that our vintage
buildings were becoming 40 and 50 years old and that they needed capital im-
provements. He felt that investing in our research and instructional space was
going to help us through difficult times and aid us in keeping our competitive
position when better times came."

The construction of new campus buildings, renovations of exist-
ing structures, and new acquisitions were all overseen by the university's busi-
ness office, led by Martin, who had
worked his way up to a vice presidency
in 1980 after starting at Northeastern in
1967 as an administrative assistant in
the bookstore. Martin was the individ-
ual who made sure that all the work
planned by the university was com-
pleted on schedule, at low cost, and
with high quality. Culver, who presided
over the business area, calls Martin
and his staff "very dedicated and mo-
tivated, very committed to making
Northeastern the best with what they
had to work with."

Martin credits key members
of his team — William Mallon, Daniel
Bourque, and John Malone — with
helping manage the enormous amount
of work that poured into the business
office in the early 1990s. With $100
million in construction projects, busi-
ness office staff were responsible for monitoring the work of construction
managers, subcontractors, and work crews — thousands of individuals — over
the course of several years. For Martin and his colleagues, days were often long
and hard. To handle the workload, the entire business operation was reengi-
neered, with employees assigned to prioritized tasks according to their level of
expertise. Technology benefited greatly, says Martin: the use of new computers
sped up work and cut the amount of paper generated by the office by about
80 percent. And business office staff could frequently be seen striding across
campus talking on cell phones, long before wireless communication became
ubiquitous. The phones, which Martin estimates increased productivity by an
hour a day, were "lifesaving" during that time.

Business vice president John Martin oversaw
all new/ construction, renovation, and
building acquisitions.

195

CHAPTER TEN

Curry felt lucky to have creative planners and effective doers like
Martin and Culver during the busy years of the early and mid-1990s. "Their
work in building out our campus," he says, "was simply extraordinary."

JN/lodem technology accounted for much of the new infrastructure
put into place at Northeastern in the early and mid-1990s. While bold new
buildings and inviting landscaping were visible evidence of Northeastern's
academic coming-of-age, the explosion of computer capability on campus of-
fered less tangible, but no less real proof that the university was girding itself
for the next century.

Beginning in 1992, the university initiated the major undertaking of
linking every campus building — both on campus and off — wdth fiber-optic
cable that snaked underground and through walls to reach the desk of every
faculty member, student, and administrator, giving them voice, video, and data
connections to the rest of the university and to the world beyond. Northeast-
ern purchased thousands of computers; provided free, downloadable software
to all members of the university community; and offered training to give in-
dividuals the tools they needed to use the new system.

The effort to transform Northeastern's information technology capa-
bilities was dubbed "The Connected Campus." That moniker was coined in a
December 1992 report written by the president's Telecommunications Advi-
sory Committee, a group formed in the late 1980s to guide and monitor North-
eastern's progress into the digital age. In 1989, Curry charged the committee,
then a group of 5 individuals that would mushroom to 17 by 1993,^^ with cre-
ating the campus-wide network, called NUnet (for "Northeastern University
Network"), that would serve the university's growing needs for information ex-
change in the 1990s and beyond."^" In the 1992 report, the group foresaw the
importance of increasing Northeastern's computer capability: "The conver-
gence of computers and communications," they wrote, "will allow collabora-
tion on an unprecedented scale, with people, machines, and networks working
together in novel ways that promise quantum leaps in productivity.""*^

The "connected campus" would provide opportunities for "connected"
learning, "connected" research, and "connected" management, the report pre-
dicted. The network would enhance learning by allowing on-line access to soft-
ware, databases, course catalogs, e-mail, and satellite programming. Research
would be "connected" by enabling faculty to communicate with colleagues

196

A CAMPUS TRANSFORMED

across the globe, gather information from on-line journals, and access super-
computers and databases located thousands of miles from campus. And man-
agement would improve through the integration of administrative systems
and the increased use of on-line business transactions."*^

The vision articulated in the Telecommunications Advisory Commit-
tee's report, which would prove crucial for Northeastern's future, derived from
the mid-1980s. At that time. Northeastern, like many other colleges and uni-
versities, maintained separate offices handling administrative and academic
computer services, each of which reported to different senior administrators.
Such a structure prevailed because, at the time, researchers and administra-
tors had different computer needs, so distinct structures had been developed
to fit those needs."*^

Northeastern officials had begun to realize, however, that the existing
campus computer systems were unwieldy and inefficient. Academic systems
were running on VAX computers made by Digital Equipment Corporation,
and administrative systems operated from an IBM mainframe, but the two
systems weren't compatible. Across campus, small clusters of computers were
connected, but no large-scale network existed. At some point, officials recog-
nized, all campus systems would have to be made compatible and the network
would require expansion.

"There was a need on the part of the university — indeed, on the part
of the whole academic industry — to build a network that would allow all of
these multifaceted systems to communicate," recalls George Harris, who was
in charge of administrative computer services from 1979 to 1992, then became
vice president for information resources.'^ "That began the discussion."

Because the new vision for information technology at Northeastern
meant campus-wide linkages, those who orchestrated the transformation
came from all corners of the university Key players included Culver, Harris,
Martin, academic computing director Glenn Pierce, computer science profes-
sor Richard Rasala, library dean Alan Benenfeld, arts and sciences informa-
tion systems director James Sarazen, administrative computer services director
Paul Pagliarulo, and the physical plant's Thomas Bruni. Raymond Williams,
director of continuing education since 1987, chaired the Telecommunications
Advisory Committee from its formation until his retirement in 1997.

Further committees focused on developing initiatives for desktop
computing and software applications, and on exploiting the new computer
capability to streamline Northeastern's business operations and its dealings
with students. Information flowed into the Telecommunications Advisory

197

CHAPTER TEN

Committee from the various committees, as well as from key university
offices, such as the registrar, admissions, financial aid, finance, and alumni ar-
eas. "All of these things were going on constantly," recalls Harris. "We had
everything from soup to nuts." In spite of dealing v^th such a massive project,
the Telecommunications Advisory Committee proved an extremely effective
committee in shepherding the work of wiring the campus and upgrading com-
puter capability. Says Harris, "In the thirty years I've been in this business, and
in the twenty years I've been at Northeastern, this was one of the best com-
mittees I've ever served on."

Officials involved in the campus wiring project visited other colleges
and universities in the early 1990s to gather ideas. The most important deci-
sion Northeastern faced was what kind of cabling or v^ring to use to connect
the campus; officials settled on fiber-optic cable. It was the most expensive
option at the time, and still a fairly recent technology, but it was also thought
to be the best choice for the future because it could handle all the university's
needs for the next 10 to 15 years. "We knew this would be a sizeable invest-
ment," recalls Harris, "and we didn't want it to be obsolete the day we turned
the swdtch on."

Work on the NUnet project began in January 1992, after the bid for the
job went to IBM. During the first phase, which continued through 1993 and
cost more than $1.8 million, roughly 20 percent of the campus was wired. As
each building came on line, individual users were provided with the software
and training necessary for them to take full advantage of their new equipment.

Early on, however, officials grappled with funding problems, given
the university's uncertain budget situation. Those most closely involved with
NUnet had argued forcefully from the beginning that the project should be
completed well before the year 2000 so that Northeastern could bring itself up
to speed in the fast-moving world of information technology. But each year,
Harris and his colleagues were required to present a new budget — as did all
departments — hoping that their funding requests would be met. The process
created some difficulties with contractors, Harris recalls. "We could never say
to a contractor, 'We can go to the next phase,' because we didn't know if we
would get the budget. And the contractors were saying, 'We don't even know if
we have a job until you finish your budget process.' "

Still, Curry had all along been convinced of the project's urgency and
managed to keep the money flowing. Phase two began in August 1993 with
$2 million in funding. "Depending on how much money we had, we sched-
uled as many buildings as we could," says Harris. "We forged ahead. That's

198

A CAMPUS TRANSFORMED

how much everyone knew and beheved that if we didn't have a comprehensive
network during the 1990s, then we were going to have a major problem doing
research, conducting business, and attracting students. Even with all the fi-
nancial difficulties, nobody said, 'Cancel the project.'"

Phase three commenced in July 1994, but because of continuing
financial problems, only $1.5 million was provided. By 1995, budget projec-
tions indicated that the university would be in better shape financially the fol-
lowing year. Emboldened by those forecasts, those involved with NUnet told
Curry that if fianding for the project didn't increase, the work wouldn't be
finished until very close to the year 2000. That was unacceptable, they said, be-
cause there were too many projects, both academic and administrative, that
were based on Northeastern's having a comprehensive computer network.
"Our argument was that this thing had to be completed within the next two
years," says Harris. "And to do that, we needed roughly another $7 million —
immediately."

As he had on so many other issues — and in spite of the university's
persistent budget problems — Curry gave the go-ahead. Again, the university
relied on borrowing and reallocation to get the job done. And so, during phase
four, which began in July 1995 and took two years, every remaining North-
eastern building came onto the network, both on campus and off

"It was truly an amazing effort," says Harris. "People had focus dur-
ing a tough time. The Northeastern family pulled together to make it happen."

Critical to NUnet's success, says Pierce, was Curry's decision to fi-
nance the project centrally, at no cost to any department. Such a move was
atypical of most large universities. Without central funding, Pierce says, there
would have been no university-wide network, because all the colleges and ad-
ministrative offices would never have been able to agree on a plan. But because
money was available from a central pool, all the university's various areas,
through the Telecommunications Advisory Committee, were able to partici-
pate in forming a network that would serve all of Northeastern. Having the
central network also enabled the university to reap substantial savings on soft-
ware, which could be purchased for campus-wide use through the network
instead of individually. In all, the university's central information services
budget leapt from about $5 million when Curry began his presidency to
$15 million the year after he stepped down.

The feedback from those who started to use NUnet was overwhelm-
ingly positive. "Now, from a personal computer in front of them, people had
the ability to run many different kinds of software that we offered on the

199

CHAPTER TEN

network, that they could access with the cUck of a button," Harris says. "They
also could take advantage of all the central administrative systems of the uni-
versity— registration, grades, student counseling. And they had electronic
mail connecting to anyone in the university as well as anybody on the Internet.
People were surprised at everything they could do."

Members of the university community could also now access the
library, a crucial link providing students and faculty with a gateway for navi-
gating and making the most of a wide array of information resources. In
1993, library dean Benenfeld said of NUnet that it enabled the library to "tran-
scend its physical confines. We can have a virtual library without walls, elec-
tronically delivering information resources to students and scholars wher-
ever they may be.""^^

Harris grants Curry much of the credit for pushing NUnet through
to completion. "In the scheme of things, it would have been very easy to say,
'We can't afford it,' " Harris says. "But instead, Jack said it was important, that
we didn't want to come out of the budget crisis only to find ourselves in an-
other kind of crisis. We had an amazing leader who had the foresight to really
understand what technology could be exploited and what impact technology
would have on the whole academic process, and was able to set that as a prior-
ity and let us make it happen."

"Of all the physical changes you see on campus, this was in some
sense even more dramatic, a huge departure from the balkanized approach to
information systems we'd had in the past," adds Pierce. "It was the right deci-
sion to make at a very difficult time. It provided the foundation for us to step
forward in the future of education."

The wiring of the campus, the construction of major new buildings
and the renovation of others, and the long list of other infrastructure im-
provements during the Curry years are indeed testament to the president's
determination to improve Northeastern, and to the trustees' willingness to
take a risk to support that effort, even during a time of fiscal uncertainty. The
university may have become smaller, but its buildings, its grounds, and its in-
frastructure for information technology were undeniably "better." Those indi-
viduals who had studied or worked at Northeastern during the asphalt-and-
white-brick years marveled at the enormous transformation that occurred in
so short a time.

Mechanical engineering professor John Cipolla says the physical
changes on campus made "a lot of difference in the way people think and
feel and work."

200

A CAMPUS TRANSFORMED

Krentzman, the trustee who contributed a major gift to help preserve
Northeastern's green spaces, declared the campus "illuminating and excit-
ing." "^^ He added, "Jack's energy, his experience, and his leadership qualities
have all come together to cause a major uplift in the entire physical and human
environment of the university."

Jason Lefferts, who began as a Northeastern freshman in 1989 and
served as editor of the student newspaper, the Northeastern News, and later as
a lecturer in the university's journalism department, put it even more bluntly
in an October 1999 commentary he wrote for the News. "Ten years ago," he
wrote, "things looked very different." Now, he continued, "It looks a lot
better. ... It looks like a real campus."

201

Trustees and senior officials meet in early 1 992 to discuss Northeastern's Centennial Campaign.
Seated to the right of President Curry are Robert Marini, who chaired the fundraising campaign,
and Eugene Reppucci, Jr., senior vice president for development.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Breaking New Ground in Fundraising,

Alumni Relations

In THE MID-1990S, Northeastern fundraising hit a new high. In spite of
a lackluster economy, the university was able to draw unprecedented millions of
dollars in support from alumni, friends, corporations, foundations, and the fed-
eral government. It did so, in large part, by demonstrating its commitment to
becoming "smaller but better" by promoting academic excellence and creating
a modern, high-technology campus. To achieve its financial goals, Northeastern
overhauled its fundraising organization, yoking it firmly to academic priorities.
In the end, an essentially isolated, staff-driven development operation became
a more volunteer-led effort, supported by staff and complemented by active in-
volvement from academic deans, faculty members, and the governing boards.

The results were striking. Colleges were strengthened; new centers of
academic excellence were established and existing ones enhanced; faculty
chairs and professorships were added; and student financial aid was boosted.

Alumni, in particular, strongly endorsed a "smaller but better" North-
eastern. Two 1961 university graduates who also served as trustees gave
multimillion-dollar donations to fund new buildings to support academic ex-
cellence and student recreation. The magnitude of the gifts was signficant for
Northeastern, a school that heretofore had received only a handful of gifts in
the million-dollar range.

The first gift came from Richard Egan, cofounder of the high-tech
giant EMC Corporation of Hopkinton, Massachusetts. In spring 1994, Egan
announced that he and his wdfe Maureen would donate $5 million to North-
eastern to help pay for the university's new engineering /science research cen-
ter.^ Added to $1.7 million Egan had previously contributed, his gift was the
largest individual donation the university had ever received.

A year later, EMC's other cofounder, Roger Marino, who had moved
on to become chairman of Golf Technologies of Natick, gave $5.5 million.

203

CHAPTER ELEVEN

with his wife Michelle, toward construction of a new recreation center at
Northeastern.^

In a sense, the timing of the gifts had much to do with the success of
EMC Corporation, a fast-growing developer of computer storage and memory
devices that would grow in the 1990s into Massachusetts' most successful
company.^ But the gifts also reflected the success of Northeastern's own ambi-
tious efforts during the early 1990s. Times were tough, but the university was

Alumnus Richard Egan is applauded at Northeastern's annual corporation meeting in May
1994 following the announcement of his multimillion-dollar donation for a new engineering/
science center.

determined to improve, and officials were bold in seeking support toward that
end. For Egan and Marino, as well as other donors, the university's goals during
this period — creating a more physically appealing and functional campus,
adding endowed chairs and professorships, nurturing successful academic
and research programs — presented a unique opportunity to contribute sub-
stantial gifts that would profoundly influence the campus and change the uni-
versity's direction for years to come.

But Northeastern's story during those years, compelling as it was, was
not enough on its own to guarantee fundraising success. In fact, university
officials had to work hard to make sure it happened. The development office's

204

BREAKING NEW GROUND

budget was more than doubled in the early 1990s, even as other university de-
partments were being cut severely. A large-scale effort was undertaken to cul-
tivate trustee volunteers to help lead fundraising and build institutional pride.
The university also took pains to create stronger links wdth alumni, in the
hopes of persuading them that it made good sense to invest in their alma
mater at a time when Northeastern was moving to enhance their credentials
by improving itself academically.

siPP

GEORGE J. MATTHEWS

,n of the Northeastern University t

and Board of Trustees

ROBERT C. MARINI

Chairman of the Development Coi
of the Board of Trustees

HNTB l.,.
^^°J^« Architect

President Curry, trustee chair George Matthews, and alumnus Roger Marino pose at the
groundbreaking for the Roger M. and Michelle S. Marino Recreation Center.

Perhaps no one believed in raising money for Northeastern more
than Curry himself Although some had questioned his fundraising abilities
when he was named president, he did not enter the fundraising arena as a
novice. Development had reported directly to him when he served as executive
vice president, and he had done some soliciting in that role. Indeed, Curry
identifies fundraising as "my favorite part of the job."

"Jack was outstanding at fundraising," says Richard Meyer, who was
appointed senior vice president for development in January 1995. "He was very
proud of Northeastern and he knew and told its story with total confidence,
and real love and affection. It worked well."

205

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Adds Robert Marini, trustee chair of the university's Centennial Cam-
paign, "Jack was a natural born fundraiser. He did it wdth flair and was tremen-
dously successful."

Curry also had much help from his wife Marcia, who attended
numerous functions with trustees and other potential donors, and hosted
dinners at the Currys' home in Lynnfield.

i he numbers alone tell the story of Northeastern's fundraising suc-
cess during the Curry years. Curry oversaw the latter part of a capital campaign
designated "The Century Fund — Phase II," which had begun in 1986 under
President Ryder and concluded in 1991 with receipts of $186.8 million, almost
$12 million above its goal.'^ He also presided over The Centennial Campaign,
which ran from 1992 through 1997 and generated an impressive $268 million,
$43 million in excess of its goal.

Both campaigns included significant milestones for the university.
During Phase II of The Century Fund, the university received its largest-ever
single donation, its largest federal grant to that point, its largest bequest, its
largest corporate cash grant, its largest equipment grant, and its largest foun-
dation grant. During The Centennial Campaign, Northeastern went on to
receive an even larger individual gift, its largest-ever corporate gift-in-kind,
and another, still larger federal grant. The greatest gift during The Century
Fund — Phase II was $3 million; during The Centennial Campaign, four gifts
exceeded $5 million.

Overall, annual fundraising from private sources — alumni, friends,
foundations, and corporations — tripled during Curry's seven-year tenure,
from $9 million in 1989-90 to $27 million in the year he stepped down.
Corporate gifts rose from $4.8 million in 1989 to $13.2 million in 1996. And
during that same period, foundation giving expanded from $862,000 to
$5.3 million.5

Northeastern's success at raising money during the Curry years is no-
table not just for its having occurred during a period of national and regional
recession and campus downsizing, but because the university was a relative
latecomer in the fundraising arena; Northeastern's first full-fledged fundrais-
ing campaign. The Diamond Anniversary Campaign, was announced in 1961
under Asa Knowles. Throughout the university's early fundraising history
officials understood that most alumni could not be counted on for sizeable

206

BREAKING NEW GROUND

donations until some time had passed, because many graduates were first-
generation college-goers who were unlikely to have inherited wealth and who
were unschooled in a tradition of giving to their alma mater.

Accordingly, the development operation was unusually small for
many years, with just a handful of professional staff, led by Eugene Rep-
pucci, Jr., and Royal Toebes, who would continue to work together in
fundraising for some 30 years. Reppucci began working in Northeastern's
development office in 1961 and was chosen its
director in 1970. Toebes came on in 1964 as
director of alumni giving. Both men were named
vice presidents at relatively young ages — Rep-
pucci in 1971, at age 34, and Toebes in 1976, at
age 37. The development operation grew slowly
over the years, adding more staff members with
each new campaign, says Reppucci.

Northeastern embarked on its Century
Fund campaigns in 1980. Phase I of The Cen-
tury Fund, with a goal of $43.25 million and an
emphasis on raising money for new and im-
proved facilities, was led by trustee George
Matthews. By 1985, thanks to strong leadership
from Reppucci and Toebes, the fundraising effort had brought in $46.8 mil-
lion and helped fund three new campus buildings (Cargill Hall, Kariotis Hall,
and Snell Engineering Center), the Solomon track in Dedham, a major reno-
vation of Cullinane Hall, and an overhaul of the Boston Arena, funded by
Matthews himself.

A significant aspect of this campaign, Reppucci says, was that
Matthews and President Ryder recognized that Northeastern needed to
develop a new philosophy of fundraising, one that emphasized raising money
not just from the alumni rank and file but also from members of the board of
trustees and university employees as well. They further saw that the most
successful kind of campaign would be driven by trustee volunteers —
"be-cause people give to people, and peers tend to give to peers," Reppucci
says — and would include greater involvement from deans and faculty mem-
bers. "In the past," Reppucci explains, "the number of volunteers was very
small, and the people who did most of the gift solicitation were the president,
Roy Toebes, and myself."

So, when Phase II of The Century Fund began in 1986, officials worked
to expand volunteer leadership among trustees, to get the campus more

Royal Toebes, vice president for
alumni development

207

CHAPTER ELEVEN

involved, and to shift the campaign's focus to academics and students. Harvey
"Chet" Krentzman, a 1949 engineering graduate, was enlisted as trustee chair
of the campaign, partly because of his expertise in promoting volunteer
fundraising for the Boston Symphony Orchestra, where he was a board mem-
ber, and partly because of his 30 years of success as a consultant to small busi-
nesses. Other active trustee volunteers included Matthews; John Cullinane,
chairman and chief executive officer of Cullinet Software, Inc.; Camp Dresser
& McKee's Marini; and Charles Zraket, president and chief operating officer
for the MITRE Corporation. In addition, 6 vice chairs and 22 volunteer solici-
tors got engaged in the fundraising effort. This push toward volunteer in-
volvement would step up dramatically during the Curry years.

Dy the time Curry became president in 1989, The Century Fund —
Phase II had netted $100 million toward its $175 million goal. That was good
progress, Reppucci says, but he and his colleagues in development were con-
cerned because that progress had not come about the way they had envisioned.
They had anticipated receiving three major gifts during the campaign's "ad-
vance phase" that would have signaled the appropriateness of the campaign's
goal. But the advance phase was over, and those gifts had not materialized.

There were reasons the gifts had not come in. For one, the nation, and
New England in particular, were still reeling from the 1987 stock market crash.
Companies were ailing or failing altogether and layoffs were rampant. More-
over, the development staff was small, still not totally volunteer-driven, and
still not strongly enough connected to the academic structure of the university.

But during the first two years of Curry's tenure, which coincided with
the last two years of The Century Fund — Phase II, the campaign went on to
demonstrable success. Alumnus George Snell, who had already given gener-
ously during the Ryder administration to help fund the Snell Engineering
Center, contributed $5 million for the library that would later bear his name;
at that time, it was the largest single donation Northeastern had ever received.
The university also was awarded a $3 million grant of state-of-the-art computer
design software — again, the university's largest such grant — from Viewlogic
Systems, Inc., of Marlboro. And it received its largest-ever bequest, $2.1 mil-
lion from alumnus Robert Erickson and his wife Sara, for an endowed schol-
arship and for the planned engineering/science research building.^

Moreover, several foundations gave $1 million or more to fund the uni-
versity's honors program, and the Balfour Foundation contributed $1 million to
fund Northeastern's Balfour Academy, a summer program to boost Boston pub-

208

BREAKING NEW GROUND

lie school Students' math and reading skills.'' Other corporate gifts in the hun-
dreds of thousands helped spur curriculum development, including a $750,000
grant from Reebok that supported Project Teamwork, a program run by North-
eastern's Center for the Study of Sport in Society aimed at improving race rela-
tions among high school students.^ Additional gifts funded two new endowed
chairs, three distinguished professorships, and four endowed professorships.^

Reppucci, who had worked on fundraising with every Northeastern
president except Frank Palmer Speare, credited much of the campaign's suc-
cess to Curry's own passion and enthusiasm for fundraising. "He became per-
sonally involved with seeking support and he got out of the office and on the
road, visiting alumni throughout the United States and internationally," Rep-
pucci recalls. "His work was key."

Curry also undertook a number of fresh initiatives during the latter
part of The Century Fund — Phase 11 campaign that helped boost the fundrais-
ing effort. For example, Curry approved Toebes's plan to create the Hunting-
ton Society, a group honored for members' contributions of $25,000 or more
over a five-year period.^" The university also established the Frank Palmer
Speare Society, recognizing individuals who planned donations to Northeast-
em through bequests or other options. Other new initiatives included a cor-
porate leadership committee, led by trustee Zraket, established to enhance the
university's ties with the corporate community and to increase corporate sup-
port; a fundraising program dedicated to strengthening Northeastern's athlet-
ics program and facilities, led by trustees Bernard Solomon and William Cotter;
a greatly improved and smart-looking new Northeastern magazine, designed
to build alumni pride; newsletters for longtime employees and retirees; the
use of video and faculty visits to promote Northeastern at alumni events; and
the involvement of the student body through the Senior Challenge program.

/\s The Century Fund — Phase II was winding down, plans were al-
ready in motion to launch Phase III, to be called "The Centennial Campaign,"
with a focus on academic priorities: program support, endowed chairs and
professorships, research facilities, a modern classroom building, and reno-
vated classrooms; a recreation center; and increased student financial aid. It
was in preparation for this campaign that Curry authorized a dramatic re-
shaping of the university's development operation.

Curry doubled the annual budget for development; it rose from about
$2.5 million in 1989-90 to nearly $4.9 million over the next five years." Even
though he and Reppucci were committed to an increasingly volunteer-driven

209

CHAPTER ELEVEN

fundraising effort, they realized that more staff members were required to
direct those volunteers. They also saw that assigning individual staff members
to each college to encourage the involvement of deans and faculty members
was a critical element of the new fundraising philosophy They further recog-
nized the importance of establishing a more extensive and sophisticated
research operation that could pinpoint potential donors and gather informa-
tion about them. "Our capability in research was comparable to institutions in

Massachusetts with a grand total of 20,000 or
25,000 alumni," Reppucci says, "and at that time
Northeastern had 125,000 alumni."

Northeastern's acute need to boost its
development staff was made obvious in a posi-
tion paper Reppucci wTote to Curry in De-
cember 1989 in which he cited figures from a
1989 Commonwealth Campaign Report, a pub-
lication that reported on Massachusetts capi-
tal campaigns. At that time, Reppucci noted.
Northeastern had 17 development profession-
als, comparable to schools such as Clark Uni-
versity and Mt. Holyoke. But Northeastern had
107,000 alumni, while Clark had just 18,000 and
Mt. Holyoke had 26,000.1^
And so, beginning in 1990, the development office launched a vigor-
ous expansion that nearly doubled its staff by 1993. Some new employees had
valuable expertise in raising money from corporations, foundations, and
alumni; others brought crucial research experience; still others focused on
planned giving and alumni relations. ^^ In addition, staff were hired for the
office of development communications, with the aim of forging stronger ties to
various constituencies by improving the quality of newsletters and other pub-
lications. Says Meyer of the expansion, "It took courage, but I think it also
showed that Jack and Gene knew you had to invest money to raise money."

The development staff threw their energies into accelerating volun-
teer involvement in fundraising. Key trustees were named to lead The Cen-
tennial Campaign. Trustee Marini, who served as chair, worked closely with
Curry and trustee chair Matthews; Meyer says the three collaborated extremely
well as a team. Other key trustee leaders included George Behrakis, president
and chief executive officer of Muro Pharmaceutical, Inc., of Tewksbury; Galen
Stone, an investment executive and trustee with Tucker, Anthony & R.L. Day,
Inc.; Henry Nasella, president of Staples, Inc.; MITRE Corporation's Zraket;
and Solomon, consultant and former executive vice president of the Bank of

Alumnus Robert Marini
served as trustee chair for
The Centennial Campaign

210

BREAKING NEW GROUND

New England. In addition, a new 70-member Campaign Cabinet, bringing to-
gether trustee volunteers, deans, faculty members, and development staffers,
functioned as a planning and advisory group. To underscore the volunteer ef-
fort, the university held its first-ever trustee development retreat in March
1992 with the entire agenda devoted to fundraising. The university also turned
toward placing greater emphasis on fundraising when considering honorary
degree recipients or new leaders for the Board of Trustees.

President Curry frequently attended alumni events across the country to foster pride and interest
in Northeastern.

Development officials also greatly expanded the role of deans and fac-
ulty members in determining the goals for The Centennial Campaign and in
articulating those goals to prospective donors. A new Deans' Council develop-
ment committee, chaired by law school dean Daniel Givelber, was formed to
focus on fundraising; a retreat and workshops were also offered to build the
deans' expertise. At the same time, individual development officers were as-
signed to each college.

Throughout the Curry years, development staff worked particularly
hard to foster closer ties v^th alumni, recognizing that improving alumni
events and communication would lead to greater fundraising possibilities. In
fact, the alumni relations office, which had previously reported to the presi-
dent's office, was brought into the development fold in 1989 when Curry

211

CHAPTER ELEVEN

became president to underscore the interrelated nature of the two functions.
Former admissions dean PhiHp McCabe was enHsted in 1991 to lead alumni
relations in its new venue.

To boost connections with alumni, the development office undertook
a comprehensive review of alumni relations, which produced initiatives such
as events and newsletters for older graduates; an alumni executive forum fea-
turing breakfast meetings with key alumni; the presentation of alumni awards
at the June commencement ceremony; the strengthening of alumni clubs and
the Student Alumni Association; and a sharper focus on creating more suc-
cessful reunions. Curry himself dramatically stepped up the number of presi-
dential visits to alumni clubs around the country and met frequently with the
Alumni Association's executive committee in an effort to foster pride and in-
terest in Northeastern. 1"^ The benefits of developing stronger ties with alumni
were evident in their increased financial support for Northeastern.

Vjentennial Campaign fundraising continued on a successful path
throughout the mid-1990s, even as the flow of human events finally brought
an end to the long and fruitful partnership of Reppucci and Toebes. Toebes's

death from cancer at age 59 came as a shock
to those who worked with him, particularly
Reppucci, who described Toebes as "vibrant
and loyal," and his "closest associate and a
very trusted friend. "^^ Toebes had relished the
job of asking for money for Northeastern, and
his talent for cultivating giving among alumni
IW\ "^ would be sorely missed. As vice president for

^■l^^^, ^^^^ alumni development, Toebes had been, for years,
^ ^^^' ^^^^ the first Northeastern official key alumni got to
know. It had been Toebes, for example, who first
introduced Curry to future alumni contributors
and trustee leaders such as Matthews and his
successor as trustee chair, Neal Finnegan.

Following Toebes's death, Reppucci, for his own part, decided to retire
in December 1994."^ Toebes had spent 28 years raising money for Northeast-
ern; Reppucci had spent 33.

Curry says he was "blessed" to have Reppucci as his senior vice pres-
ident for development and Toebes as Reppucci 's top lieutenant. "We had
grown together at Northeastern from the 1960s on, and we had confidence

Richard Meyer

212

BREAKING NEW GROUND

in one another," Curry says, adding that Reppucci was not only valuable in
his role as development chief but also as a key presidential adviser. Indeed, it
had been Reppucci whom Curry had chosen to head the committee that
planned his inauguration.

Fortunately for Curry, he had several topnotch candidates to choose
from when it came time to replace Reppucci. Meyer, who had worked at Michi-
gan State University, Georgetown Law Center, and the University of Min-
nesota, started at Northeastern in January 1995 and, as Curry puts it, "came on
like gangbusters."

1 he outcome of The Centennial Campaign in 1997 — $268 million
for Northeastern — had been assured by the many fundraising improvements
instituted under Curry. At the time he stepped down, the university had net-
ted about $185 million toward its $225 million goal, and when the campaign
was officially over, the university could once again point to a record-breaking
campaign. Private donations — from individuals, corporations, and founda-
tions— had accounted for $118 million; $37.5 million had been raised for fa-
cilities; $22 million had been donated for endowed chairs, professorships, and
scholarships; and equipment and software gifts had totaled $22.6 million.^^

Besides Egan's and Marino's groundbreaking gifts, the campaign was
launched with a lead gift of $1 million toward faculty support from trustee
Donald Kramer and a $1 million endowed chair from trustee Behrakis. The
university also received more than half a million dollars from longtime friends
and benefactors George and Lorraine Snell to enhance the library's archives
and establish a chair in chemical engineering.

A successful fund drive, led by Curry and business dean David Boyd
and chaired by trustee Richard Ockerbloom, president of the Boston Globe,
reaped $6.5 million to help renovate Dodge Hall into an impressive new home
for the College of Business Administration.

Two corporations made multimillion-dollar gifts-in-kind to the de-
partment of electrical and computer engineering; Cadence Design Systems,
Inc., gave $7 million in advanced design software, and Synopsys, Inc., donated
$8.5 million in software and licenses. Another $5 million came from the
Advanced Research Projects Agency, the Polaroid Corporation, and Kopin
Corporation to enable Northeastern researchers to build three-dimensional
image sensor programs. Other substantial gifts were received from Viewlogic
and EMC Corporation.^^ Gillette Company helped underwrite Northeastem's
new bachelor of science in international business program.^^ Raytheon

213

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Company, which had directed $1 million toward construction of the planned
engineering /science building in 1988, contributed another $1 million in 1994,
leading to the naming of the technology transfer center in the Egan building
as the Raytheon Amphitheater. ^^ And Analog Devices provided a major labo-
ratory for the College of Engineering.

The university was also fortunate in securing two significant federal
grants. Curry worked for several years to vsdn approval for a $15 million De-
fense Department grant for the new engineering /science research center,
which he knew would stand as an important symbol of Northeastern's drive to-
ward academic excellence. He spent considerable time collaborating v^th Sen-
ator Edward Kennedy and Massachusetts Representative Joseph Moakley, with
the support of trustee chair Matthews and Representative John Murtha of
Pennsylvania, arguing successfully that Northeastern's faculty in engineering
and the sciences ranked as top-flight and was capable of undertaking research
benefiting the country's defense efforts. Curry also journeyed to Washington,
D.C., to help assistant engineering dean David Blackman convince the Na-
tional Science Foundation that Northeastern was the logical institution to re-
ceive $5 million to improve math and science education in the public schools
of Boston; that grant was approved in 1994.

Curry also traveled extensively with nursing dean Eileen Zungolo to
persuade the W. K. Kellogg Foundation to award its largest-ever foundation
grants — two multimillion dollar gifts — to the College of Nursing's Center for
Community Health Education, Research, and Service, which focused on im-
proving community health education in the Boston area.^^ The Kellogg Foun-
dation also committed $1.25 million to expand the community partnership
model into collaborations between Northeastern and the Boston public schools.

A $750,000 grant from trustee Krentzman and his wdfe Farla provided
a permanent endowment for landscaping the campus and for improving the
main quad, which was named for the Krentzmans. The appearance of the cam-
pus was further beautified through the gift of a sculpture garden, the first of
many, from alumnus Stanley Young and his wife Barbara. Another trustee,
Arnold Hiatt, contributed generously to the law school during the Curry years.

Still other trustees gave generously of their time to assist in raising
money for Northeastern. For example, Dennis Picard, former chairman and
chief executive officer of Raytheon Company, introduced Curry to several chief
executive officers of other major corporations. Such entrees proved critical to
helping Northeastern meet its fundraising goals.

Other new monies funded the renovation of athletic facilities such as
Matthews Arena and Parsons Field, supported high school student programs

214

BREAKING NEW GROUND

such as the Balfour Academy and the Urban Schools Collaborative, and
financed community efforts such as the law school's Domestic Violence Insti-
tute and the Tobin Scholars Program. Gifts also enabled the university to in-
crease substantially its financial aid budget, a vital component of the strategy
to attract successful students to Northeastern.

But the most important outcome of Northeastern's fundraising suc-
cess was significant improvement in the university's academic quality — the
goal that held center-stage throughout Curry's
presidency. The infusion of funds bolstered the
work for the university's centers of academic ex-
cellence: the Barnett Institute of Chemical Analy-
sis and Materials Science, the Center for Electro-
magnetics Research, the Center for Digital Signal

Processing, and the Center for the Study of Sport — '^^g'^^^gb^ ' .m

in Society. Money was directed to the university's JBk _'^-^-- |||

honors program, which grew from 150 to 1,250
students during the Curry years. New funding es-
tablished endowed chairs and professorships in
engineering, bioanalytical chemistry, pharmacy,
sociology, and criminal justice.

Centennial Campaign chair Marini attributes much of the campaign's
success to the fact that the university had come into its own with Curry's vision
of a "smaller but better" Northeastern and that potential donors were im-
pressed with the school's transition. At the same time, he says, more of the uni-
versity's graduates had become financially successful and were willing and
able to make substantial donations to their alma mater. "Jack Curry was the
guy who could convince them to do that," Marini adds.

Trustee chair Matthews also credits Curry for fundraising expertise,
and cites Marini's enthusiasm as key to his forceful leadership in The Centen-
nial Campaign. "We did a lot of hard work selling people on the dream," he
says. "People gave because they were excited about the changes that were hap-
pening at Northeastern."

Those changes, says Curry, were directed toward the grand goal of
making academics and faculty the top priority at Northeastern. "We made this
investment knowing the payoff would not necessarily be immediate," he says,
"but we knew we were setting the stage for a new century."

Trustee Harvey Krentzman

215

Northeastern track star Erik Nedeau (left), qualified for the Olympic trials in 1 996; at right,
a student works out at the Marino Recreation Center.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Providing for the Student and the Student-Athlete

On Huntington Avenue, across from Northeastem's venerable Cabot
Gym, the Marino Recreation Center stands as a dramatic western entrance to
the university. Behind its angled wall of glass windows, dozens of students,
staff, and neighbors run, pedal, and weightlift their way to fitness, providing a
living billboard for the new Northeastern — modem, trim, inclusive, and dy-
namic. The $12 milhon structure, completed in fall 1996, is tangible proof of
Northeastem's commitment to providing recreational space for its students.
Jack Curry, himself an avid runner, understood as well as anyone the connec-
tion between a sharp mind and a healthy body. He long dreamed of such a
space and, with the help of a naming gift from alumnus Roger Marino and his
wife Michelle, energetically shepherded the building from blueprint to reality.

Creating a recreation center was a crucial development during a time
when Northeastern focused not just on the needs of its varsity athletes but on
the everyday student as well and, indeed, on the athletics program as a whole.
During the Curry years, several studies of the athletics department were con-
ducted as part of the university's overall planning process and its goal of be-
coming "smaller but better." Faculty members and administrators closely
examined every aspect of the program: its budgets, its organization, the status
of its various varsity sports, its facilities, its gender equity, and its drug-testing
and drug-education policies — all with the goal of maintaining an athletics pro-
gram second to none in its vigor, its comprehensiveness, and its appeal for all
students. In many men's and women's varsity sports, both teams and individ-
uals achieved at levels that brought recognition to Northeastern. A related
program, Northeastem's Center for the Study of Sport in Society, secured
significant grant funding and accolades for its groundbreaking work in using
sports and athletes to address the social ills of racism, intolerance, and
domestic violence.

217

CHAPTER TWELVE

At the same time, Northeastern was shaken by the death of Reggie
Lewis, its greatest athlete ever, as well as by subsequent questions about his
possible drug use while he was a Husky hoop star.

Overall, Northeastern's athletics program was updated and rendered
more equitable during the Curry years. And Curry himself played a large role
in enhancing the sports and intramurals programs.

The Marino Recreation Center offers a dramatic view at dusl<.

"Jack knew that improving athletics was related to improving the im-
age of the school," says Barry Gallup, Northeastern's longtime football coach
and its athletic director from 1993 through 1997. "He saw that it could help
school spirit. And he felt strongly about intramural and recreational sports. He
tried to balance the needs of all kinds of students."

Like other departments across Northeastern, athletics was not im-
mune to the fiscal challenges of the early and mid-1990s. Some tough choices
had to be made, particularly regarding varsity athletics. At the same time, the
administration was determined to expand the athletics budget sufficiently to

218

PROVIDING FOR THE STUDENT AND THE STUDENT-ATHLETE

improve equity between male and female athletes and coaches, increase
resources and prominence to selected sports, and ensure top-flight facilities
for both varsity and recreational athletics.

In fact, besides regular budget increases, the university allocated
more than $18.5 million for new construction and renovations of its athletic
facilities between 1989 and 1996.^

The addition of the Marino Center stands as a highlight of the Curry
years, not only for the first-class facility it provided for recreational athletes and
the everyday student, but because it relieved pressure on the Cabot Physical
Education Center, which had previously been required to serve the needs of
both varsity athletics and recreational sports — often with difficulty. When
Cabot was built in 1954, it was designed to serve as a home for five or six men's
sports teams, recalls Jack Grinold, Northeastern's associate athletics director
for communications, who has managed the university's sports information
operation since 1962. "You go to 1985, before Jack became president, and we
have nineteen athletic teams. We also have an athletics department that went
from maybe eight people to thirty full-time people." The building showed the
strain. Frequently, the weight room or track would be reserved for varsity prac-
tice, irking tuition-paying students who came to work out only to find there
was no space for them. Workout times had to be reserved for the relatively few
pieces of exercise equipment. There was no conference space, not enough
room to provide offices for the burgeoning women's programs, and no place
for the expanded locker rooms that were sorely needed.

"It was a building where there was a constant battle between varsity
teams and the intramural programs," recalls Grinold. "There was constant
bickering in the waiting room."

The conditions also made it difficult for recruiting, adds Gallup, because
visitors to campus were shown overcrowded training rooms in need of spruc-
ing up. Only a very small space in Cabot was dedicated to athletic training, for
example. And student-athletes in need of medical treatment had to go to Lane
Health Center, and sometimes had long waits to be seen.

But with the opening of Marino in fall 1996, Cabot could be used almost
exclusively for varsity athletics. "When Marino opened, bang, all of that pres-
sure was taken off," says Grinold. Moreover, during the Curry years, the univer-
sity made improvements to Cabot — a complete renovation of the indoor track
with space for indoor tennis and baseball, new locker rooms, an upgraded ath-
letic training area, a new crew tank, and office space for women coaches — that
ultimately rendered the building more workable as a home for varsity sports.

219

CHAPTER TWELVE

And Marino figured as a spectacular addition to the campus. Behind
its impressive facade, it featured basketball courts, a four-lane suspended
track, free weights, Nautilus and aerobics areas, and retail space with restau-
rants and stores on the ground floor.^ Students and other members of the uni-
versity community flocked to the facility. When all recreational sports were
housed in Cabot, about 5,000 people used the facility per week, according to
Sue Ekizian, associate director of campus recreation; Marino would accom-
modate nearly 15,000.

"The Marino Center is a first-
class recreation facility that is a tiemen-
dous asset, not only to the recruiting of
students and student-athletes but, prob-
ably more importantly, to the retention
of all students," says Gallup. "Every
time we give a campus tour, it is one of
the highlights that students and their
parents always comment on. And it's
always busy. It gives students a reason
to stay on campus."

Other improvements to North-
eastern's athletics facilities boosted sev-
eral sports programs. A 1995 overhaul
of the 85-year-old Matthews Arena
transformed the ice rink into what
Gallup calls a top-notch facility. Thanks
to the $1.5 million renovation, the ice
surface went from being one of Boston's
smallest to one of its largest. The ice
surface was so much enhanced that, according to Grinold, visiting figure skat-
ing champions like Dorothy Hamill and Oksana Baiul claimed it the best ice
they had ever skated on.

Parsons Field in Brookline, home to Northeastem's football team,
also received a $1.5 million upgrade, including a new artificial surface for the
field, a new permanent grandstand and pressbox, a renovation of the field
house, a new baseball field and dug-outs, and, for the first time, women's locker
rooms. The improvements to the field helped the university gain admission
into the Yankee Conference, a move that substantially benefited the football
program by easing scheduling problems and allowing Northeastern to
compete against local opponents and in geographical areas where students
were being recruited. Says trustee Bernard "Bunny" Solomon, who often

Trustee Bernard "Bunny" Solomon often
advised President Curry regarding
Northeastem's athletics program.

220

PROVIDING FOR THE STUDENT AND THE STUDENT-ATHLETE

advised Curry on athletics matters, "We'd been struggling for years to get into
the Yankee Conference. When we were accepted, it was a huge step forward in
our respectability."

The university also enjoyed the advantages of a striking new boat-
house during Curry's tenure, funded in part by trustee Ernest Henderson III
and his wife Mary Louise. The Graham Gund-designed boathouse in
Brighton, planned during the Ryder administration and dedicated during

^^^^^^^^^^r^^^^^

MiilSi^^Hillllillllih'I'llilillllilMlllfiilliMHiyiiil^

L^- 'piitr' :

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Northeastern's eye-catching boathouse, which opened in 1989, won several architectural awards.

Curry's first year as president, provided Northeastern's crews with their own
home on the Charles River for the first time. For the previous 25 years, the
men's crew had rowed out of the Riverside Boat Club in Cambridge, which the
university rented. Women's crew had been guests at Boston University's boat-
house, where they could not even take a shower. In the 1980s, as rowing be-
came more popular. Riverside indicated it would end Northeastern's lease.
Thus began a six-year effort to convince the Brighton community and the Met-
ropolitan District Commission that a Northeastern boathouse on the Charles
would be a good idea. In the end, the university won approval to build the boat-
house, which would wdn several architectural awards, including its recognition
in 1990 by American Rowing magazine as the best boathouse in the country.^
"We went from being orphans into maybe the finest boathouse in America,"
says Grinold.

221

CHAPTER TWELVE

In cases where Northeastern still did not have adequate facilities for
particular sports, the university fashioned some creative solutions. To address
the need for outdoor space for new programs such as women's soccer, Curry
arranged a deal with Wentworth Institute: in exchange for Wentworth's use of
the Matthews Arena ice and locker room space. Northeastern was entitled
to use Wentworth's new field at the comer of Huntington Avenue and Ruggles
Street. Another agreement was struck with the city of Boston's Parks and
Recreation Department, which allowed Northeastern the use of Clemente Field
on the Fenway for intramural Softball and special events in exchange for the
university maintaining the field.

While the university was building new athletics facilities and reno-
vating others, it also reorganized the athletics department, spurred by both the
tight budget and personnel changes. Further, Northeastern offi-cials closely ex-
amined other key elements of the athletics operation, including its administra-
tion, salary structure, individual sports programs, gender equity, academic
support for athletes, and drug policies, all toward the goal of improving the en-
vironment for student-athletes as well as their coaches.

In 1991, the previously separate men's and women's athletics depart-
ments— under the direction of Irwin Cohen and Jeanne Rowlands, respec-
tively— were merged. Both leaders had earned distinction for their operations.
Cohen, who started as a Northeastern track coach in 1962, became head coach
in 1966, and was named men's athletic director in 1984, had brought the de-
partment into compliance with NCAA standards and had tightened eligibility
standards, helping to pave the way toward Northeastern's acceptance into the
Yankee Conference. He also was the first commissioner of the North Atlantic
Conference, now America East; was one of the six founders of Hockey East;
and participated in several key NCAA committees as a member of the organi-
zation's executive committee.'^ Rowlands, a pioneer in the development of
women's athletics who had spent 12 of her 30 years at Northeastern as women's
athletic director, had elevated Northeastern's women's sports programs to the
Division I level, thereby gaining regional and national recognition for the uni-
versity^ But in 1991, when Rowlands retired, Curry joined the departments —
placing Cohen in charge of both men's and women's sports — to save money
during a difficult economic period and to provide more efficient management.^

Several years later, Curry made Cohen his special assistant and
charged football coach Barry Gallup with managing the department. Gallup re-
mained as both coach and athletic director for four years. In September 1994,

222

PROVIDING FOR THE STUDENT AND THE STUDENT-ATHLETE

a year after Gallup took the top athletics job, he hired a senior associate athletic
director, former UCLA associate athletic director Terry Condon, to help with
day-to-day operation of the department/ Condon was only the second woman
in recent history to be named to a senior-level position in Northeastern's ath-
letics department.

With a new leadership team in place, officials undertook the first se-
rious strategic planning effort for athletics in the university's history. Begin-
ning in late 1994 and continuing through 1995, Curry, treasurer Robert Culver,
and Gallup reached decisions regarding expanding, eliminating, and setting
resource levels for individual sports while attempting to enforce more equity
among men's and women's sports. In fact, moving the university's sports pro-
grams toward full compliance with Title IX legislation — which required that
resource allocation, participation rates, scholarship assistance, and support
services among men's and women's sports be in proportion to the student
body at large — was a key element of the plan. This was an issue not just for
Northeastern, but for colleges and universities across the country. To put the
problem in context, in 1997, even 25 years after the passage of Title IX, only
a handful of educational institutions were in ftill compliance vdth the let-
ter of the law.^

The strategic plan for athletics, adopted in October 1995, addressed
the compliance issue head-on. It called for hiring more full-time women's
coaches; providing more scholarship funds for women athletes; and making
salaries for women coaches more competitive. Further, Curry approved the re-
sources necessary to sustain budgets for Northeastern's prominent sports at
Division I levels. "We moved to keep athletic budgets reasonably close to those
of our Division I competitors," says Curry.

The plan also called for adding two new women's sports programs, de-
moting four varsity sports to club status, and eliminating one sport altogether.^
Officials said at the time that they weighed factors such as student interest,
program quality, revenue-enhancement ability, diversity of participants, and
gender-equity compliance. As a result of the planning effort, the university
added women's soccer; made men's swimming, men's tennis, and men's golf
into club sports; and eliminated women's gymnastics.

"Through the stiategic plan, we aimed to keep up vidth regional and
national trends," says Gallup. "Soccer participation had doubled and tripled na-
tionally at the high school level, so we knew that men's and women's soccer
were going to be important sports." And the decision to cut women's gymnas-
tics, while not an easy one, was made because running the program was ex-
pensive and served a relatively small number of individuals. "We had to make
some tough decisions," Gallup admits.

223

CHAPTER TWELVE

At the same time, the university conducted a self-audit of the athlet-
ics department to comply with an NCAA-required recertification process for
all member colleges and universities. The self-study, conducted by a commit-
tee led by history professor William Fowler, focused on fiscal and academic in-
tegrity, governance, and equity. ^° The report, completed in March 1996, praised
the hiring of new administrators to run the athletics operation, the facilities
upgrades, and the progress in gender equity. The report urged continued work
to address remaining inequities between men's and women's sports in salaries,
budgets, recruitment and scholarship dollars, availability of equipment, sports
promotion, and participation rates. ^^ At the end of the process, Northeastem's
athletics program gained unqualified recertification from the NCAA.

In March 1995, broadly publicized allegations arose that former
Husky hoop star and Celtics captain Reggie Lewis, who had died of a heart ail-
ment in 1993, might have tested positive for cocaine during the 1987 basket-
ball season at Northeastern and that the 1987 team might have been involved
in drug use. The allegations prompted Curry to order an ethics probe of the
athletics department. ^^

The Northeastern community had already endured the gut-wrenching
loss of Lewis, who, as the university's all-time leading scorer in basketball and
the all-time leading scorer in New England Division I basketball, had propelled
the Huskies to four consecutive EC AC North Atlantic Conference titles and
four NCAA appearances in the mid-1980s. After Lewis collapsed and died in
July 1993 while shooting baskets at a Brandeis University gym, a huge out-
pouring of grief emerged, both in the corridors of Northeastern and on the
streets of Boston. At the request of Lewis's widow, Donna Harris-Lewis, who
had met her husband at the university, Lewis's funeral was held on the North-
eastern campus. Throngs lined up outside Matthews Arena, where a banner
hung in the rafters displaying Lewis's retired number 35, to pay their respects
to a man who had been admired as much for his gentle personality and char-
itable work as for his remarkable prowess on the court.

But ever since Lewds's death, rumors persisted about his cocaine use,
although the possibility was later strongly denied by Harris-Lewis and others
in Lewis's inner circle. In 1995, when Curry learned about a drug test that had
been given to Northeastern basketball players just before the team's 1987
NCAA appearance and that several players, including Lewis, might have tested
positive for drug use, Curry ordered a probe of the athletics department by a

224

PROVIDING FOR THE STUDENT AND THE STU D E NT- ATH LETE

blue-ribbon commission. The eight-member group of distinguished Bostoni-
ans, led by attorney John DriscoU of the law firm Nutter, McClennan & Fish,
was charged with examining not just the 1987 drug-testing incident but the
overall ethical standards and practices, past and present, of Northeastern's
athletics department.

"We must make certain that our athletics department stands second
to none in its ethical approach to sports, and in its advocacy for the young men
and women who are our student-athletes at Northeastern," Curry said at a
news conference held in March 1995.'^

Ultimately, the commission found no evidence that Lewis had taken
drugs during his five years as a Northeastern undergraduate, although it did
determine that some members of the 1987 Husky basketball team had used
marijuana.^'* The panel also concluded that Northeastern's sports program was
generally sound but needed strengthening in several areas, such as reinstitut-
ing random drug testing of student-athletes (which it had dropped in the mid-
1980s), developing a comprehensive drug education and prevention program,
and having the athletics department report directly to the president to ensure
coordination of athletics and academic policies across the university. Curry
moved quickly to implement these and many of the group's recommendations.

JN ortheastern's Center for the Study of Sport in Society which since
its inception in 1984 had helped society address some of its worst ills by en-
listing the aid of well-known athletes, garnered national recognition and signifi-
cant grants during the Curry era for its flagship program. Project Teamwork.

The brainchild of center director Richard Lapchick, Project Team-
work was initiated in 1990. Under the project, groups of former professional
athletes — of different races and genders — visited schools and community
groups around the country to improve young people's sensitivity to racial, eth-
nic, and gender issues, and to train them in conflict resolution. The project got
its initial funding after Curry and Lapchick pitched the idea to Reebok Inter-
national's chairman Paul Fireman, who liked the concept so much that he pro-
vided a three-year, $750,000 grant.^^

Project Teamwork met success early on. In 1993, Teamwork received
the Peter F. Drucker Award for the most innovative nonprofit program in the
social sector. Also in 1993, Lou Harris, one of America's leading public opin-
ion analysts, evaluated the program and pronounced it "America's most suc-
cessful violence-prevention program." And in 1994, AmeriCorps, President

225

CHAPTER TWELVE

Clinton's national service program, chose Teamwork as a national model for
conflict resolution, awarding it a $140,000 planning grant. The foUowdng Au-
gust, AmeriCorps gave the center another award: nearly $1 million to establish
permanent Project Teamwork sites at four universities across the country, in-
cluding Northeastern.'^

Through Curry's tenure, the center sponsored about a dozen pro-
grams in total, such as its Mentors in Violence Program, Hoop Dreams, and
the Athletes in Service to America Program, all aimed at convincing young
people to focus on difficult social issues. Over the years, the center's programs
have reached millions of young people across the country. "There are some is-
sues that other organizations don't want to grapple with," says Lapchick.
"Those are the ones that we try to take on — violence against women, racism,
sexism, and drug and alcohol abuse. And Jack has always encouraged us. He
saw that sports can be a way to reach people on critical social issues."

While Northeastern officials endeavored to improve the athletics
program, student-athletes on the playing fields gave the university some win-
ning moves to cheer about.

The truth was that Northeastern athletics had really come of age only
in the 1980s. Before that, says spokesman Grinold, Northeastern had been a
"Division II program getting its Division I legs." But in the 1980s, with Curry
overseeing athletics as executive vice president, the sports programs grew up.
Through those years, increased scholarship and recruitment funds and per-
sonnel changes helped the program mature. "Everything bloomed in the
1980s," Grinold says.

For example, the men's basketball team had six NCAA appearances,
many of those wdth the aid of hoop star Lewis. The men's ice hockey team won
four Beanpot tournaments, one Hockey East championship, and one Final Four
appearance. Women's ice hockey became one of the top three teams in the na-
tion, capturing the ECAC championship in 1988 and 1989, as well as seven
Beanpots. Track continued as one of the dominant programs in New England,
as it had been since the mid-1970s. Men's crew claimed the 1988 Intercollegiate
Rowing Association championships. Women's basketball earned three confer-
ence titles. "There was a lot of really good stuff going on," recalls Grinold.

Sustained sports triumphs marked the Curry years. Men's crew fin-
ished as the Intercollegiate Rowing Association champions in 1991. Men's base-

226

PROVIDING FOR THE STUDENT AND THE STUDENT-ATHLETE

ball swung through six winning seasons, a league championship, and a 1994
NCAA appearance. The men's basketball team won two league championships
and had five winning seasons. The women's basketball team leaped to the
league finals in both 1994 and 1995. Women's ice hockey continued its winning
record through the early 1990s; in fact, three team members from that time —
Shelley Looney, Vicky Sunohara, and Laura Schuler — would go on to compete
in the 1998 Olympics, with Looney winning the gold as a member of the U.S.
team and Sunohara and Schuler earning silver medals for Canada.'^ Women's
field hockey maintained eight wdnning seasons in a row and, for each of Curry 's
seven years as president, the team competed in the NCAA tournament.

Other Northeastern athletes made their mark in the world arena as
well. Track star Erik Nedeau, a 1994 graduate and a four-time Ail-American,
qualified for the Olympic trials in 1996. Rower Jeff McLaughlin, a 1989 gradu-
ate, won a bronze medal at the 1988 Olympics. In the 1992 Olympics, he and
fellow oarsman Pat Manning, a 1990 graduate, captured silvers rowing the
men's four. Significantly, that boat — with two of its four rowers from North-
eastern— was the only men's boat to win a medal that year.

For all their hard play, Northeastern's student-athletes performed just
as well in pursuit of their academic goals. Throughout Curry's tenure, the
graduation rate for student-athletes ranged from 60 to 65 percent, a full 20
points higher than that of the student body as a whole. Moreover, plans were
laid during the Curry years to locate an academic assistance center for athletes
in the Cabot Center, to boost athletes' classroom achievement even higher.^^

That Curry recognized the value of athletics to the university was not
lost on those around him. "What every athletics department in America prays
for," says Grinold, "is a president who has an understanding and empathy to-
ward sports. It's really rare that you find them. But we had that person." Oth-
ers agreed; in 1994, Curry was named to Northeastern's athletics Hall of Fame
for his efforts in expanding the university's athletics programs, in champi-
oning women's sports, and in upgrading sports facilities.'^ Trustee Solomon
adds that Curry's interest in sports was genuine and enthusiastic, as evidenced
by his frequent attendance at Husky sports events.

The way Curry sees it, the resources he approved for varsity, intramu-
ral, and recreational sports and new athletics facilities were all directed toward
one thing: making things better for all students. "It was a hardship for North-
eastern, but we were able to put some money into the athletics budgets and
into facilities," he says. "We provided wonderful opportunities for student-
athletes as well as people who just want to have fun."

227

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President Clinton receives an enthusiastic welcome at Northeastern's June 1 993 commence-
ment ceremony at the Boston Garden.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Risk and Reward

When Bill Clinton entered the floor of the Boston Garden on a hot
June day in 1993, smiHng broadly and high-fiving the cheering Northeastern
seniors who had come to receive their diplomas, it was a defining moment for
the university. The president of the United States had chosen to give a com-
mencement address not at one of the ivy-covered schools across the Charles
River but at Northeastern University, the scrappy underdog with a history of
helping students of limited resources obtain a solid education and valuable on-
the-job experience. But it was a natural fit for a populist president who often
referred to his own humble roots.

"I must tell you," Clinton said when he reached the stage, "I
have marched in many of these processions over the years. I don't think
I ever marched in one that made me happier than when we were coming down
this line and all of you were giving the 'high five.' " ^ The crowd loved it; their
cheers rang through the rafters of the Garden. During the ceremony, Clinton
spoke of how impressed he was with the strong work ethic of Northeastern
students. Student speaker Douglas Luffborough thrilled the crowd with his
powerful rendition of "The Banana Boat Song," then told of his own struggle
to make it to college despite growing up poor. Clinton was so impressed with
Luffborough that he invited him and his mother to visit the White House.

Clinton's appearance was electrifying for the university community,
and news of the speech was spread far and wide by intense media coverage that
propelled the university into the national spotlight and, as a corollary, provided
invaluable positive exposure.

Clinton's visit also symbolized Northeastem's growing stature and
clout among public officials and the general public, as well as its increasing
confidence. Officials had pulled out all the stops to convince the president to
come, in the face of stiff competition from other schools. But Clinton was not
the only political leader to demonstrate an interest in Northeastern; in fact, a

229

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

host of prominent politicians saw fit to speak or receive honorary degrees at
Northeastern during Curry's presidency, including First Lady Barbara Bush,
who spoke at the 1991 commencement; Massachusetts governor William
Weld, who spoke in 1995; and a distinguished group of world leaders includ-
ing Nelson Mandela, Irish president Mary Robinson, and Poland's Lech Walesa.
Such interest did not occur in a vacuum. Throughout the early 1990s,
Northeastern managed to turn heads among academic colleagues, govem-

President Bill Clinton, flanked by (from left) President Curry, trustee chair George Matthews (at
rear), and U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy, proudly displays his Northeastern honorary degree on
stage in the Boston Garden.

ment and business leaders, and journalists for boosting academic quality even
as it encountered steep enrollment declines and the revenue loss associated
with them. Internationally, the university was particularly admired for its co-
op program, which offered hands-on educational opportunities for students
from around the globe and served as a valuable model for the grovdng num-
ber of countries seeking to introduce co-op into their own universities.

Other notable evidence of the drive toward a smaller but better uni-
versity commanded attention both off campus and on. In his inaugural ad-
dress in December 1989, Jack Curry had expressed his determination to set a
new standard of academic excellence at Northeastern. But he also said he
wanted the university to make students a top priority, to become a better friend
to the local community, to improve ties with the city to become Boston's pre-

230

RISK AND REWARD

mier urban institution, to provide educational opportunities for Boston stu-
dents, and to create a more tolerant, diverse campus.

On all fronts of this ambitious agenda, the university hit the mark,
exceeding even the most optimistic expectations.

"The university's academic standing is stronger than ever," Curry
said in his 1996 speech to the Northeastern corporation, his last before step-
ping down that summer. "Our students' SAT scores and class ranks continue

First Lady Barbara Bush smiles after giving
the main address at Northeastern's June
1991 commencement.

President Curry presents Nelson Mandela with
a Northeastern honorary degree during the
South African leader's June 1 990 visit to Boston.

to rise; our honors program boasts enrollments higher than at any time in our
history . . . and during the past year, thirty new scholars . . . have been recruited
into our faculty ranks from some of the most prestigious universities in the na-
tion and the world — Cornell, Northwestern, Harvard, and Moscow State
among them. ... In the three-month period from May to July, the university is
hosting four large-scale international conferences — on cultural economics,
plasma science, environmental biotechnology, and par-ticle physics — where a
total of fifteen hundred scholars from around the world will gather to report
on and discuss the latest research in their fields." ^

Northeastern was indeed flourishing. Fundraising reached an all-
time high. In the space of just a few years, the campus had blossomed with
new and renovated buildings and a multimillion-dollar computer network.

231

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Myriad landscaping projects created a warm, welcoming feel along Huntington
Avenue and throughout the campus. Beyond that, the university forged
stronger links with the local, state, and federal governments. Curry himself
evolved into an important national spokesman on issues facing higher educa-
tion, as well as a worldwide ambassador preaching the gospel of co-op. An ex-
panded public relations effort radiated news about Northeastern's successes
across the nation. Within the campus and alumni community, Curry improved
communications by supporting award-winning publications. And the univer-
sity developed into a more diverse, more tolerant place to work and study.

Northeastern's remarkable transformation was all the more striking be-
cause it occurred during a time of belt-tightening, when the future of the uni-
versity was anything but certain. "It was an oddly upbeat time," recalls treasurer
Ciilver, "because we had a vision, a strategy We took the smaller and better con-
cept and caused it to permeate every element of life at the university."

ihe effort to secure a Clinton appearance at Northeastern's 1993
commencement ceremony amply reflects the determination and drive that
characterized the Curry years. In January 1993, just after Clinton was sworn in
as president, Tom Keady got busy. Keady, who had been named Northeastern's
government relations director a year and a half earlier, knew it would be a tall
order to persuade Clinton to choose Northeastern from among the 800 or so
other colleges and universities across the country — including high-powered
places like Harvard, MIT, and Dartmouth — that were also vying to have the
popular new president speak at their graduations.

Given the competition, some of those who knew of the effort to en-
list Clinton wondered why Northeastern was even bothering. But Curry
thought: Why not Northeastern.^ He did not spend a lot of time worrying about
the school's inferiority complex, which had been a nagging fact of life for
years, as some people at Northeastern incessantly contrasted the university
with the academic giants across the river. Granted, Northeastern was going
through some rough financial times, and it still had much work to do to im-
prove its academic quality — but all that was in the process of changing, Curry
believed. He had confidence in Northeastern, and he felt there was no reason
why others could not share that pride.

Charles Coffin, who oversaw media relations and internal communi-
cations for Curry, thinks that Curry's uncompromising belief in the value and
uniqueness of a Northeastern education was key to vaulting the university's
public profile during the early 1990s. He says that very self-assurance infused

232

RISK AND REWARD

Others at the school with the confidence and determination to push for im-
provements, growth, and a stronger image.

"Jack somehow had within himself — and gave Northeastern — the
confidence, the sense of unapologetic pride about the university that allowed
us to make bold requests, such as asking the president of the United States to
speak here," says Coffin. "And as the university implemented its smaller but
better philosophy, that gave him and others even more confidence to promote
Northeastern. During the first few years of Jack's presidency, we had an enor-
mous increase in the public visibility of the university."

Curry helped to enhance that public image by openly airing his own
views on numerous education-related topics, even when those views were
unpopular or different from those held by high-powered politicians whose sup-
port Northeastern needed. During his presidency, Curry vvTote nearly 20 opin-
ion pieces, many of which were published in the Boston Globe and the Boston
Herald. He criticized Boston Mayor Raymond Flynn's 1993 proposal to tax uni-
versities and hospitals, which ultimately failed.^ He lobbied against Massachu-
setts Governor William Weld's significant cuts in state financial aid to students,
which were reversed. He even spoke out against the Clinton administration's
attempts to subject private colleges and universities to high levels of federal
and state control, helping assure that the proposal never reached fruition."^

And so, amidst this general spirit of lively debate and bold moves,
Keady and his colleagues pulled out all the stops to gain the attention of the
White House. The goal was to sell Northeastern as a good fit for Clinton: a
school that catered to aspiring students from humble backgrounds, a place
where hard work was valued, most expressly through the co-op program. And
commencement would be held in the Boston Garden, where Clinton's idol,
John F. Kennedy, had addressed Northeastern graduates — including Curry —
as a young senator in 1956.

The lobbying effort was intense. Northeastern called on its friends in
Washington — Senator Edward Kennedy, Representative Joseph Moakley, and
other members of the Massachusetts congressional delegation — to speak to
White House officials on Northeastern's behalf Also pushing the Clinton staff
was Christopher "Kip" O'Neill — son of legendary House speaker Thomas
"Tip" O'Neill III — whose lobbying skills and relationship with the senior staff
of the White House proved extremely useful. Others contacted the White
House to put in a good word for Northeastern, including former Massachu-
setts governor and Democratic presidential candidate Michael Dukakis, a pro-
fessor of political science at the university; Mayor Flynn; and university
counsel William Hulsey, who, as a co-op student in 1987, had worked with then-
governor Clinton and his wife Hilary. Curry's own standing in Washington,

233

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

which had escalated owing to his tireless lobbying efforts on issues vital
to higher education, also helped convince the White House to consider
Northeastern.

For months, Keady was on pins and needles. The initial group of 800
institutions vying for Clinton was narrowed to 200. Then 50. Then 25. Then 6.
Remarkably, Northeastern was still in contention. By the beginning of May —
less than seven weeks before Northeastern's commencement, and well past the
time when the speaker was typically chosen and confirmed — some university
officials were urging Curry to choose another speaker. Curry, ever the optimist,
said no. By May 3, it had come down to two institutions. Northeastern and
Dartmouth, where Clinton's labor secretary, Robert Reich, had gone to school
and had just been named to the board of trustees.

Keady, for his part, had made sure that a Clinton visit to Boston would
be a day well spent. He convinced an aide to Senator Kennedy to push a
Kennedy fundraiser, originally scheduled for the Sunday after Northeastern's
graduation, to the commencement day itself The idea was that Clinton could
speak at the Garden, then move on to the Kennedy fundraiser, then travel to
Maine for a fundraiser for Senator George Mitchell.

It all must have made sense to the White House, because on May 5,
Clinton chose Northeastern. Keady wanted to tell Curry right away; he eventu-
ally tracked him down at Cabot Gym, where he was cooling down after a run.
When Keady broke the news, Curry beamed. And gave Keady a bear hug.

Vjurry took a risk in pushing for Clinton and waiting until the last
minute for him to confirm. But the Curry administration was all about risk
and the potential rewards that accompany it. Says business dean David Boyd,
"Jack understood that if you eliminate risk, you eliminate the future."

Mishac Yegian, chair of Northeastern's civil engineering department,
agrees. "When enrollments went down, instead of planning for shrinking.
Jack made investments, he built up the infrastructure, and he found alumni
and government resources to help do that," he says. "That's a tough corporate
decision. Usually when you're shrinking, you sell, but Jack thought big. He
thought the future."

Assistant history professor Gerald Herman, who has been deeply in-
volved in faculty governance for many years, adds that Curry and his colleagues
"were able to take what was clearly adversity and turn it to opportunity."

A key element of the Curry administration was the push for colleges
and departments to be entrepreneurial and creative, in spite of financial con-
straints. Many of those who served as academic deans during the Curry years

234

RISK AND REWARD

say that their colleges were able to improve, and their own jobs were made
more challenging, because of the university's overall drive toward excellence.

"If you had an idea and wanted to develop it, Jack was someone you
could talk to about it and who supported it if he thought it was a good idea,"
recalls Daniel Givelber, law school dean during the Curry years. "My experi-
ence with Jack was that he was accessible, ready to listen, and receptive to new
ideas, even if they didn't fit into the traditional mold of the way decisions were
made at Northeastern."

"Anything that I wanted to try, when I would say to Jack, 'What do you
think about this?' he would say, 'Try it,'" says Eileen Zungolo, nursing dean
during Curry's tenure. "I always felt I could try anything. And if it didn't work,
we would pick up the pieces and see what other approach we could try."

Indeed, there were times during the Curry years when officials
did have to "pick up the pieces." The layoff of nearly 200 employees was
gut-wrenching; the hiring freezes, delays in pay raises, and midyear budget
cuts were disruptive; and the constant scrutiny of the university's financial sit-
uation created a general sense of unease about the future.

Yet surprisingly, morale on campus was good. "Even though people
were disappointed they weren't getting pay raises and other things, they could
see that the university was improving," says civil engineering's Yegian. "North-
eastern was becoming much more of a quality institution. Obviously, that
helped our morale."

Northeastern economist Paul Harrington echoes this sentiment.
"Jack," he says, "made us feel better about ourselves."

The openness with which business was conducted was also crucial in
shepherding the university through a difficult period. Information-sharing
was especially significant for faculty members who had at times in the past felt
distrustful of the administration.

"Both the provost's and the president's office were open to meeting
with faculty on any issue at any time," recalls provost Michael Baer. "Jack in
particular was very consultative with the Faculty Senate agenda committee
and other groups on budgets and programs. The openness with which data
and information were treated during our difficult times made faculty feel they
were part of the institution."

Adds computer science dean Larry Finkelstein, "Jack was a trust
agent. When you're dealing wdth troubling times, you need people you can
trust. And during Jack's administration, trust became not only socially accept-
able but socially required."

On a more personal level, Curry's accessibility to faculty, adminis-
trators, and staff across campus played a critical role in making people feel
more at ease during stressful times. "Jack was always available," recalls James

235

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Gozzo, Bouve dean during the Curry administration. "He made everybody feel
comfortable. He really didn't have any regard for status; he treated everybody
as people. He listened, and when he listened, it was clear that he really cared."

1 artly because of Curry's personal accessibility and partly because of
the impressive gains made during his tenure, many were surprised and sad-
dened when the president announced,
_^ ip^™ ^^ f^^^ 1995, that he would step down at

r^3 fMw ^^ ^^^ ^^ ^^* academic year. He

explained that he wanted to spend
quality time with his family and pur-
sue other service opportunities and
personal interests such as reading,
writing, traveling, and film studies.
"There comes a time when you say, 'I
want to do something for me,' " he told
the North-eastern Voice.^

After Curry's announcement,
plans immediately got under way to
find a new president. That effort would
lead, in May 1996, to the naming of
Northeastern's sixth president, Richard
M. Freeland, who was chosen from a
nationwide field of more than 100 can-
didates, and who would take over in the
fall of that year.^

Through the 1995-96 school
year, in the meantime, Curry's col-
leagues and peers offered many positive assessments of his presidency.
Trustees, faculty members, administrators, and staff noted that, while some
individuals had had negative perceptions about Curry at the start of his presi-
dency, those views had been turned around.

"Almost to a man, the people who initially were not supportive of, and
not very happy about, the choice of Jack, became very strong and outspoken
supporters of what he did," says trustee Frederic Hersey. "He quickly won sup-
port for his policies and his actions."

Arvin Grabel, who chaired the Faculty Senate's agenda committee
during Curry's tenure, recalled how, when he was on the search committee

President Curry poses in 1989 with his wife
IVIarcia (seated) and children (from left)
Timothy, Susan, and Robert.

236

RISK AND REWARD

that chose Curry, "people criticized [Curry] for two weaknesses: he was an in-
ternal candidate without national recognition and he was not an academic."
He added, "Ironically, those became his two strengths."^

People didn't have to look very far to be convinced that Curry had been
the right choice as president. In Curry's view, and in the view of many others
on campus, the most dramatic and important change was that the vision of
"smaller but better" slowly and steadily became reality: SAT scores rose 70
points; independent organizations rated the university higher in academic cat-
egories; new facilities were built to boost research, teaching, and student ser-
vices; and individual colleges gained outside recognition for outstanding pro-
grams and top-performing researchers.

"I give Jack high marks for the movement toward quality academics
at Northeastern," says Neal Finnegan, who was elected trustee chair after
George Matthews stepped down from the post in 1998, and who had chaired
the special trustees committee that examined Northeastern's enrollment pol-
icy. "That Jack shifted gears from his own open enrollment mindset to the
'smaller, better' program is the most important thing that happened."

When Boston University president John Silber learned of Curry's re-
tirement, he WTOte to him, "Your success in achieving a financial and academic
turnaround in an incredibly few years is an achievement of which you can be
immeasurably proud, and one for which you will be honored for generations
at Northeastern."^

Under Curry, stabilization of enrollments at a sustainable level
was key to a successful future for Northeastern. Achieving that goal required
increased financial aid, improved campus facilities, stronger public relations,
and, most important, a more selective admissions policy. All those founda-
tions were put in place on Curry's watch, and the goals were accomplished in
less than seven years.

Curry was proud of the fact that the budget was balanced and that
there was a surplus each year of his presidency, even with all the financial
difficulties. A comment he made in his 1995 speech to the university's corpo-
ration sheds light on how he saw his role. "Managing a complex educational
institution these days is very much like running a corporation," he said then.
"It requires an ability to react swiftly to market shifts, to respond aggressively
to competitive pressures, to act resolutely in the face of unexpected crises, and
to adapt readily to consumer demand. To do that, you need the fancy footwork
of a broken-field runner. It is not a business for the faint of heart." "^

Time and again, people would say that only Jack Curry could have
acted as that "broken-field runner." Many feel he helped get the university
through the most difficult period in its history to date.

237

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

"There's no doubt in my mind that he saved the institution," says
Bouve's Gozzo.

"I don't know if there are many people who could have done the job
that he did," adds trustee Richard Egan, whose multimillion-dollar gift helped
fund Northeastern's new science-engineering center. "You get many people
who are good in good times, but you get very few people who are good in bad
times. Jack was one of those people."

The gains made during the Curry years would provide a strong
groundwork for future advances at Northeastern. The increased quality of the
student body and the faculty, the new and enhanced facilities, the strong
fundraising that buttressed the academic improvements — all played a key role
as the "factory" on Huntington Avenue moved well beyond its humble birth as
an auto repair school to become, in fewer than 100 years, a shining young star
among the nation's constellation of research universities.

238

NOTES

ihe items cited here are from printed materials; interviews with in-
dividuals, while not cited, account for much of the information found in the
text. Those individuals who gave interviews are listed in the acknowledgments,
pp. vii-ix. Offices specified in the endnotes are located at Northeastern Uni-
versity, 360 Huntington Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts.

Introduction

1. Northeastern University: An Emerging Giant, 1959-1975, by Antoinette Frederick,
Northeastern University Custom Book Program, Boston, 1982, p. 12.

2. Ibid., p. 7.

3. "Profiles of the Presidents Who Forged Northeastern," by Charles Fountain, in Tra-
dition and Innovation: Reflections on Northeastern University's First Century, edited by
Linda Smith Rhoads, Northeastern University, 1998, p. 2.

4. Northeastern University Coming of Age: The Ryder Years, 1975-1989, by Antoinette
Frederick, Northeastern University, 1995, p. 3.

5. "Profiles of the Presidents," p. 3.

6. Northeastern University Coming of Age, p. 4; "Profiles of the Presidents," p. 5.

7. Northeastern University Coming of Age, p. 4-5; "Profiles of the Presidents," p. 5.

8. Northeastern University Coming of Age, pp. 5, 40-41 .

9. Ibid., p. 5; "Profiles of the Presidents," p. 6.

10. Northeastern University Coming of Age, p. 5.

11. Ibid., p. 6.

12. Historical Note, Records, Office of the President (Ryder), 1955-1996, Northeastern
University Libraries, Archives and Special Collections Department.

13. Ibid.

239

NOTES

14. Ibid.; "Profiles of the Presidents," p. 6.

15. Ibid.

16. Northeastern University Coming of Age, pp. 19-38, 41-59; "Profiles of the Presi-
dents," p. 6.

1 7. Northeastern University: An Emerging Ciant, pp. 1 3-1 7.

18. Ibid.

19. "Northeastern president to step down," by Alice Dembner, Boston Globe, Septem-
ber 23, 1995, p. 13.

Chapter One

1. "John Curry to be Northeastern's 5th president," by Karen Feldscher, Northeastern
University Edition, June 15, 1989, p. 1.

2. "Curry won't seek presidency; plans early retirement," by Karen Feldscher, North-
eastern University Edition, Dec. 8, 1988, p. 1.

3. "Northeastern official is said to quit as top job ruled out," by Alexander Reid, Boston
Globe, Dec. 3,1988, p. 25.

4. "Presidential search outlined," by Karen Feldscher, Northeastern University Edition,
Oct. 6, 1988, p. 1.

5. "Consultants hired to aid in presidential search," by Karen Feldscher, Northeastern
University Edition, Dec. 8, 1988, p. 3.

6. "Presidential search: faculty voices concerns," by Karen Feldscher, Northeastern
University Edition, Nov. 3, 1988, p. 3.

7. "Wanted: a 'genius' to lead NU into 21st century," by Karen Feldscher, Northeast-
ern University Edition, Jan. 12, 1989, p. 3.

8. "Three candidates remain in the running to head Northeastern," by Muriel Cohen,
Boston Globe, June 7, 1 989, p. 21 .

9. "Curry nod causes stir," by Amanda Krohn, Northeastern University Edition, June 1 5,
1989, p. 4.

10. Ibid.

11. "Trustees reaffirm Curry presidency," Northeastern University Edition, July 13, 1989,
p. 2.

12. "In storm's eye, Northeastern's new president presses ahead," by Anthony Flint,
Boston Globe, Aug. 21 , 1 989, Metro section, p. 1 .

13. "John Curry to be Northeastern's 5th president," p. 1 .

14. "The University in a Democracy: Empowerment, Tolerance, and Community," in-
augural address by John A. Curry, fifth president. Northeastern University, Dec. 1,
1989.

240

NOTES

15. Office of the Provost.

16. "Administration buoyed by new Carnegie rating," by Ken Cornstein, Northeastern
Voice, April 14, 1994, p. 1.

Chapter Two

1. "President emphasizes academics," by Karen Feldscher, Northeastern University
Edition, Sept. 28, 1 989, p. 1 .

2. "A look back: Why such turnover in provost spot?" by F. C. Nicholson and Lisa
Watts, Northeastern University Edition, April 19, 1990; Northeastern University Com-
ingofAge: The Ryder Years, 1975-1989, by Antoinette Frederick, Northeastern Uni-
versity, 1995, p. 162.

3. "President emphasizes academics," by Karen Feldscher, Northeastern University
Edition, Sept. 28, 1989, p. 1.

4. "Provost choices narrow/; faculty praise search," by Lisa Watts, Northeastern Uni-
versity Edition, March 29, 1990, p. 1.

5. Office of Institutional Research.

6. "Senior administration undergoes major changes," by Karen Feldscher, Northeast-
ern Voice, jar). 31, 1991, p. 1.

7. Office of University Relations.

8. Office of University Communications.

9. "A big university shapes up by downsizing," by Steve Stecklow, Wall Street journal,
Oct. 10, 1994, p. Bl.

10. "Northeastern U. cuts itself down to size," by Julie L. Nicklin, Chronicle of Higher
Education, Oct. 26, 1994, p. A39.

11. "Keady, Ogden promoted; communications director named," Northeastern Voice,
June 13, 1991, p. 3.

12. Northeastern University Fact Book, 1990-91, Office of Marketing and Institutional
Research and Planning, p. 66.

13. Digest of Education Statistics, National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. De-
partment of Education, 1994, Table 99 — High school graduates compared with
population 1 7 years of age: 1 869-70 to 1 993-94, p. 1 08; Digest of Education Statistics,
National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, 1994,
Table 100 — Public high school graduates, by state: 1969-70 to 1993-94, p. 109.

14. "Kelly tapped as dean," by Ken Cornstein, Northeastern Voice, June 25, 1992, p. 1.

15. "Committee to study college merger plan," Northeastern Voice, Feb. 28, 1991, p. 3.

16. "Vice provost hired to aid enrollment," by Ken Cornstein, Northeastern Voice,
Oct. 24, 1991, p. 1.

241

NOTES

17. "Kelly tapped as dean," p. 1.

18. "Eddy named interim head of enrollment," by Ken Gornstein, Northeastern Voice,
June 29, 1995, p. 1; "Eddy named to vice provost post," by Ken Gornstein, North-
eastern Voice, Nov. 9, 1995, p. 3.

Chapter Three

1. "University announces 175 non-faculty layoffs," by Karen Feldscher, Northeastern
Vo/ce, Jan. 17, 1991, p. 1.

2. "Education crunch has plans changing, charges flying; colleges redefine mission,"
by Anthony Flint, Boston Globe, Feb. 6, 1992, p. 1.

3. Digest of Education Statistics, National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Depart-
ment of Education, 1994, Table 99 — High school graduates compared with popu-
lation 1 7 years of age: 1 869-70 to 1 993-94, p. 1 08.

4. Digest of Education Statistics, National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Depart-
ment of Education, 1 994, Table 1 00 — Public high school graduates, by state: 1 969-
70 to 1993-94, p. 109.

5. High School Graduates: Projections by State, 1992-2009, a joint publication of the
Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education, the Teachers Insurance and
Annuity Association, and the College Board, October 1993.

6. "How Stanford, wealthy and wise, is cutting costs to stay that way," by Susan Chira,
New York Times, July 8, 1990, p. 1.

7. "Cutting costs on campus," by Larry Gordon, Los Angeles Times, May 31, 1990, p. 1.

8. Ibid.; "Economic pressures reshape dream of higher education," by Katherine
Farrish and Robert A. Frahm, Hartford Courant, Nov. 10, 1991, p. Al.

9. "Can Yale, with budget troubles, still be great?" by Anthony DePalma, New York
Times, Dec. 4, 1991, p. B16.

10. "Cutting classes and costs; the recession goes to college," by Debbie Goldberg,
Washington Post, Aug. 4, 1 991 , p. Rl ; "Economic pressures reshape dream of higher
education," p. Al.

11. "Hard times attend UConn," by Katherine Farrish, Hartford Courant, Feb. 16, 1993,
p. Al.

12. Consumer Price Index for all urban consumers, U.S. city average, 1913-present,
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor.

13. Northeastern Unii/ersity Fact Book, 1996-97, Office of Institutional Research, p. 51.

14. "Salaries, new positions on hold, says Curry," by Karen Feldscher, Northeastern
Voice, May 31, 1990, p. 1.

1 5. Address to the university, John A. Curry, Sept. 1 7, 1 990.

242

NOTES

16. Report of the Special Committee on Enrollments, Northeastern University Board of
Trustees, April 1 991 , pp. 34-35.

17. "Campus life: Middlebury; 400 people stage a funeral march to protest layoffs,"
New York Times, May 26, 1991 , p. 46.

18. "Employees accept need for staff layoffs," by Karen Feldscher, Northeastern Voice,
Feb. 14, 1991, p. 1.

19. "Baer gets new pact," Northeastern Voice, Sept. 12, 1991, p. 3.

20. "Curry earns high marks from trustees," Northeastern Voice, Sept. 26, 1991, p. 1.

21. Office of the Provost.

22. "Senate OKs cuts in health programs," by Karen Feldscher, Northeastern Voice,
Dec. 12, 1991, p. 1.

23. Office of the Provost.

24. "Emphasizing change, Baer calls for review of faculty roles, adult education," by
Karen Feldscher, Northeastern Voice, Sept. 28, 1995, p. 1.

25. "Deans seek to improve recruitment with creative programs, faculty help," by Karen
Feldscher, Northeastern Voice, March 14, 1991, p. 1.

26. "NU seeks change in marketing," by Ken Gornstein, Northeastern Voice, Feb. 13,
1992, p. 1.

27. "Deans coping in wake of cuts," by Karen Feldscher, Northeastern Voice, Feb. 13,
1992, p. 1.

28. "Some faculty hit use of lecturers," by Michael Keegan, Northeastern Voice, Apr. 14,
1994, p. 3.

29. Report Card from Provost Michael Baer to the Board of Trustees, Nov. 1994;
"2 Roads to Restructuring," by Julie L. Nicklin, Chronicle of Higher Education,
Oct. 26, 1994, p. A39.

30. "Retracted resolution draws fire," by Michael Keegan, Northeastern Voice, March 1 7,
1994, p. 1.

31. "Faculty leaders back need for raise pool delay," by Michael Keegan, Northeastern
Vo/ce, Jan. 25, 1996, p. 1 .

32. "Unit heads frustrated by latest budget pinch," by Karen Feldscher, Northeastern
Voice, Nov. 9, 1995, p. 1.

33. "NU freezes hirings to offset shortfall," by Michael Keegan, Northeastern Voice,
May 11, 1995, p. 1.

34. "Curry unveils draft budget for next year," by Michael Keegan, Northeastern Voice,
Jan. 25, 1996, p. 1.

35. Office of the Senior Vice President for Administration and Finance.

243

NOTES

36. Address to the university corporation, John A. Curry, May 1 9, 1 993.

37. Ibid.

38. Office of the Senior Vice President for Administration and Finance.

39. "Market helps boost endowment," by Karen Feldscher, Northeastern Voice, Feb. 27,

1992, p. 1.

40. "NU wins national award for cost-control measures," Northeastern Voice, July 22,

1993, p. 5.

Chapter Four

1. office of Institutional Research. In 1996, the College Board recentered SAT score
scales. Thus, Northeastern's "recentered" average freshman SAT score for 1995 is
1052, not 953. In 1996, the recentered score was 1055. For the rest of Curry's presi-
dency, nonrecentered scores were used.

2. Northeastern University Office of Enrollment Management.

3. Northeastern University Fact Book, 1992-93, p. 73, and 1997-98, p. 75.

4. Division of Sponsored Project Administration. Grants received in 1996-97 would
have been applied for during Curry's tenure.

5. Letter to Dr. John A. Curry from John Silber, July 14, 1996.

6. "Strategic plan moves ahead," by Karen Feldscher, Northeastern Voice, May 27,
1993, p. 1.

7. "Some faculty doubt role in strategic plan," by Karen Feldscher, Northeastern Voice,
Jan. 28, 1993, p. 1.

8. "Baer, faculty reach accord on plan vote," by Michael Keegan, Northeastern Voice,
March 11, 1993, p. 1.

9. "Baer outlines strategic plan," Northeastern Voice, Sept. 23, 1993, p. 1; "Strategic
plan sets new vision for academics," by Karen Feldscher, Northeastern Voice, Oct. 21 ,
1993, p. 1.

1 0. "Baer outlines strategic plan," p. 1 ; "Strategic plan sets new vision for academics,"
p.l.

11. "Professors scrutinize draft plan," by Karen Feldscher, Northeastern Voice, Nov. 4,
1993, p. 1.

1 2. Address to the university, John A. Curry, Sept. 1 7, 1 990.

1 3. Northeastern University Fact Bool<, 1 992-93, p. 29.

14. Northeastern University Fact Bool<, 1996-97, p. 30.

15. Office of Enrollment Management.

16. "New publications to stress 'doing' at Northeastern," by Ken Gornstein, Northeast-
ern Vo/ce, April 9, 1992, p. 1.

244

NOTES

17. "NU to lure brightest with aid," by Karen Feldscher, Northeastern Voice, Oct. 10,

1991, p. 1.

18. "NU 'merits' a close look," by Karen Feldscher, Northeastern Voice, March 12, 1992,
p.l.

19. "Curry: Set academic priorities," by Karen Feldscher, Northeastern Voice, Sept. 24,

1992, p.l.

20. "Honors program enrollment reaches five hundred," Arts el Sciences Chronicle,
Autumn/Winter 1988, p. 5.

21. Honors program office.

22. "President targets improved services," Northeastern Voice, Oct. 10, 1991, p. 3.

23. "Service key to retention, recruitment," by Lisa Watts, Northeastern Voice, Jan. 30,

1992, p. 9.

24. "Provost offers to fund faculty proposals for creative academic programs," by Karen
Feldscher, Northeastern Voice, May 9, 1991, p. 3.

25. "Doctoral history program receives a second chance," by Michael Keegan, North-
eastern Voice, Oct. 7, 1993, p. 1 .

26. "Hedlund lauds NU research," by Karen Feldscher, Northeastern Voice, Sept. 19,
1996, p.l.

27. "Staff awarded $1 million for research use," Northeastern Voice, Oct. 10, 1991, p. 3.

28. Division of Sponsored Project Administration.

29. Ibid.

30. "Jewel in the crown," by Karen Feldscher, Northeastern University Magazine, Nov.
1998, p. 39.

31. Office of Institutional Research.

32. "Matthews professorships endowed," by Ken Cornstein, Northeastern Voice, Oct. 21 ,

1993, p. 3.

33. "Swimming with the sharks," by Daniel Penrice, Northeastern University Magazine,
Nov. 1998, p. 33.

34. "The house that Muriel and Otto built," by Maria Karagianis, Northeastern Univer-
sity Magazine, Nov. 1995, p. 38.

35. "Emphasizing change, Baer calls for review of faculty roles, adult education," by
Karen Feldscher, Northeastern Voice, Sept. 28, 1995, p. 1.

36. "President emphasizes academics," by Karen Feldscher, Northeastern University
Edition, Sept. 28, 1989, p. 1.

37. The classroom building would be named Shillman Hall in 1 999, in honor of a nam-
ing gift from 1 968 engineering graduate Robert Shillman, president, chief executive
officer, and chairman of Cognex Corp., Natick, Mass.

245

NOTES

38. Northeastern University Institutional Self-Study, Decennial Accreditation, 1998,
Vol. II, pp. 27-28.

39. "Administrators buoyed by new Carnegie rating," by Ken Gornstein, Northeastern
Vo/ce, April 14, 1994, p. 1.

40. "Curry: University's new Barron's listing should draw top students," by F. C. Nichol-
son, Northeastern Voice, Aug. 10, 1989, p. 3.

41. "'Genius' award is good sign for deaf," by Karen Feldscher, Northeastern Voice,
June27, 1991, p. 1.

42. "Political science student wins Truman Scholarship," Northeastern Voice, March 17,
1994, p.l.

43. "NU jumps in magazine ranking," by Ken Gornstein, Northeastern Voice, Sept. 22,
1994, p. 5.

44. "School of Law named tops in public interest," Northeastern Voice, March 3, 1994,
p. 5.

45. Address to the university corporation, John A. Curry, May 24, 1 994.

46. "Part-time MBA ranked 11th in nation," Northeastern Voice, Dec. 7, 1995, p. 5.

47. Address to the university corporation, John A. Curry, May 23, 1995.

48. Details on specific awards or recognition are cited in sections on the individual col-
leges in Chapter 5, "The Colleges."

49. "A big university shapes up by downsizing," by Steve Stecklow, Wall Street Journal,
Oct. 10, 1994, p. Bl.

50. "Leaders react to Curry's decision to step down," Northeastern Voice, Sept. 28, 1 995,
p. 7.

Chapter Five

1. Northeastern University Coming of Age: The Ryder Years, 1975-1989, by Antoinette
Frederick, Northeastern University, 1995, p. 94.

2. /b/d., pp. 95-101.

3. Ibid., p. ^04.

4. Ibid., p. }04.

5. "Increase in arts and sciences enrollment reflects national trend," Arts c( Sciences
Chronicle, Winter/Spring 1988, p. 3.

6. Northeastern University Fact Book, 1996-97, Office of Institutional Research,
pp. 40-41.

7. Office of Institutional Research, Summary Admissions Profile Report. The College
Board recentered SAT score scales in 1996; for the rest of the Curry years, non-
recentered scores were used.

246

NOTES

8. "Message from the Dean," by Robert Lowndes, Arts ci Sciences Chronicle, Spring
1994, p. 3.

9. "New undergraduate programs," by Cretchen McBride, Arts el Sciences Chronicle:
The Last 7 7 Years, Spring 1998, p. 8.

10. "Message from the Dean," Arts el Sciences Chronicle: The Last 1 7 Years, Spring 1998,
p. 3.

1 1 . "Enhanced learning through experiential education," by Robert P. Lowndes, Arts el
Sciences Chronicle: The Last 11 Years, Spring 1998, p. 13.

12. "Renowned scholars join arts and sciences faculty, boosting college's status," by
Karen Feldscher, Northeastern Voice, Sept. 14, 1995, p. 1.

13. "Journalism to be headed by Daniloff," by Karen Feldscher, Northeastern Voice,
June 25, 1992, p. 3.

14. "'Genius' award is good sign for deaf," by Karen Feldscher, Northeastern Voice,
June 27, 1991, p. 1.

15. "Matthews Distinguished University Professor awards to CAS faculty," Arts el Sci-
ences Chronicle: The Last 11 Years, Spring 1998, p. 30.

1 6. "College of Arts and Sciences distinguished professors," by Kalo Clarke, Arts el Sci-
ences Chronicle: The Last 11 Years, Spring 1998, p. 23.

1 7. "Psychology dept. makes gains in minority recruitment," by Ken Gornstein, North-
eastern Voice, Feb. 14, 1991, p. 1.

18. "Psychology department holds research apprentice program for minority stu-
dents," Arts el Sciences Chronicle, Spring 1990, p. 8.

1 9. Arts el Sciences Chronicle: The First 100 Years, Spring 1 998.

20. "Physics star dazzles NU audience," by Karen Feldscher, Northeastern University
Edition, AprW 12, 1990, p. 1.

21. "Tschernisch takes post in California," Northeastern Voice, June 11, 1992, p. 4.

22. "Mort Kaplan to direct Division of Performing and Visual Arts," by Karen Feldscher,
Northeastern Voice, Sept. 10, 1992, p. 3.

23. "Arts program shifts focus," by Michael Keegan, Northeastern Voice, Sept. 9, 1993,
p.l.

24. "Center for Labor Market Studies brings national recognition to the college," Arts el
Sciences Chronicle, Fall 1995, p. 5.

25. Northeastern University Marine Science Center Web site, v^aaaw. dac.neu.edu/msc.

26. Northeastern University Research Centers Web site, wv^w.neu.edu/top/research.
html.

27. "James W. Fraser named director of the Center for Innovation in Urban Education,"
Arts el Sciences Chronicle, Fall 1 993, p. 1 1 .

247

NOTES

28. "Forensics team becomes national contender," Arts a[ Sciences Chronicle, Spring
1990, p. 10.

29. "Political science student wins Truman Scholarship," Northeastern Voice, March 1 7,
1994, p.l.

30. "Gozzo strives to capitalize on Bouve's soaring success," by Karen Feldscher,
Northeastern Voice, Nov. 9, 1 995, p. 1 .

31. Ibid.

32. Office of Institutional Research. Average freshman SAT scores rose significantly
after Bouve's 1 992 merger with the pharmacy college. On a recentered scale, scores
rose from 1031 in 1991 to 1095 in 1996.

33. Northeastern University, An Emerging Giant: 1959-1975, by Antoinette Frederick,
Northeastern University Custom Book Program, Boston, 1982, pp. 119-123.

34. Northeastern University Coming of Age, pp. 49-50.

35. Ibid., p. ^ 49.

36. Northeastern University, An Emerging Ciant, pp. 105-109.

37. Northeastern University Coming of Age, pp. 1 59-1 62.

38. "Senate OKs cuts in health programs," by Karen Feldscher, Northeastern Voice,
Dec. 12, 1991, p.l.

39. Office of the Provost.

40. Northeastern University Fact Book, 1 996-97, pp. 42 and 49. The discrepancy in num-
bers can be reconciled if one adds in the small number of students in the discon-
tinued Bouv6 programs, which is not included in the postmerger figures.

41 . "Gozzo strives to capitalize on Bouve's soaring success," p. 1 .

42. "Senate OKs program for new Bouve college," Northeastern Voice, June 25, 1992,
p. 3.

43. Programs/degrees approved since 1989, Office of Institutional Research, Octo-
ber 1996.

44. "Gozzo strives to capitalize on Bouve's soaring success," p. 1 .

45. Bouve College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Our Origins and Future, Vol. 1,
No. 1, Spring 1996.

46. "Bouve PA program marks its 20th year," Northeastern Voice, Sept. 24, 1992, p. 4.

47. "Northeastern PAs break new ground in state," Northeastern Voice, Feb. 11, 1993,
p.ll.

48. "Physician assistant grads ace test," Northeastern Voice, Feb. 16, 1995, p. 5.

49. "Center to study drug 'targeting,' " Northeastern Voice, Sept. 26, 1 991 , p. 6.

50. "Rising stars," Northeastern Voice, Sept. 22. 1994, p. 11.

248

NOTES

51 . This effort is described in full in Chapter 9.

52. "Deans coping in wake of cuts," by Karen Feldscher, Northeastern Voice, Feb. 13,
1992, p. 1.

53. Office of Institutional Research, Summary Admissions Profile Report. In 1996, the
College Board recentered SAT score scales. For the rest of Curry's presidency, non-
recentered scores were used.

54. Northeastern University Fact Book, 1995-96, Office of Institutional Research, pp. 44
and 57.

55. /h/d, p. 44.

56. "After deep enrollment losses, CBA seeks new market niche," by Karen Feldscher,
Northeastern Voice, Jan. 25, 1996, p. 1.

57. Office of the Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, College of Business
Administration.

58. Programs/degrees approved since 1989, Office of Institutional Research, Octo-
ber 1996.

59. "After deep enrollment losses, CBA seeks new market niche," p. 1 .

60. "Managing the future: A global perspective," College of Business Administration
Annual Report, 1989-90, Message from the Dean, p. 2.

61. "CBA taps Weiss for dean post," by Karen Feldscher, Northeastern Voice, June 30,
1994, p. 1.

62. "CBA teams with Tufts, Brandeis," Northeastern Voice, March 16, 1995, p. 5.

63. College of Business Administration newsletter, March 1996, p. 5.

64. "CBA officials see new era in Dodge Hall," by Michael Keegan, Northeastern Voice,
Sept. 23, 1993, p. 1.

65. The Ultimate Guide: Top Business Schools, by Bruce Stuart and Kim Stuart, Esq.,
Prentice Hall Press, 1990, p. 163; "Business school rated one of best in nation,"
Northeastern Voice, Jan. 1 7, 1 991 , p. 8.

66. "Part-time MBA ranked 11th in nation," Northeastern Voice, Dec. 7, 1995, p. 5.

67. Northeastern University Fact Book, 1992-93, Office of Institutional Research, p. 43.

68. Northeastern University Fact Book, 1996-97, Office of Institutional Research, p. 44.

69. "Cynthia Brown named computer science dean," Northeastern Voice, Sept. 20, 1 990,
p. 2.

70. "Dean sets ambitious agenda for computer science," by Karen Feldscher, North-
eastern Voice, April 14, 1994, p. 3.

71. Northeastern University Coming of Age: The Ryder Years, 1975-1989, by Antoinette
Frederick, Northeastern University, 1995, pp. 123-5.

72. Northeastern University Fact Book, 1992-93, p. 43.

249

NOTES

73. "Botolph building to be named for donor's parents," Northeastern Edition,
March 29, 1 984, p. 3; "Cullinane Hall: A tribute to the American dream," by Wendy
Kaczerski, Northeastern Edition, Sept. 26, 1985, p. 3.

74. Northeastern University Coming of Age, pp. 1 25-1 26.

75. Office of Institutional Research.

76. "Committee to study college merger plan," Northeastern Voice, Feb. 28, 1991, p. 3.

77. Computing the Future: A Broader Agenda for Computer Science and Engineering, Juris
Hartmanis and Herbert Lin, editors. National Academy Press, Washington, D.C.,
1992, executive summary, pp. 6-7.

78. College of Computer Science research report, 1993-94.

79. /b/c/.

80. Division of Sponsored Project Administration.

81. "Students take center stage in computer science college," by Karen Feldscher,
Northeastern Voice, Jan. 11, 1996, p.l.

82. Northeastern University, An Emerging Giant, p. 1 26.

83. Ibid.,p.^3^.

84. Northeastern University Coming of Age, p. 151.

85. Northeastern University, An Emerging Ciant, p. 132.

86. Northeastern University Fact Boo/c, 1996-97, Office of Institutional Research, p. 45.

87. Ibid., p. 25.

88. Northeastern University admissions office.

89. Northeastern University Fact Book, 1996-97, pp. 45 and 58.

90. "Criminal justice aims even higher," by Karen Feldscher, Northeastern Voice,
Oct. 26, 1995, p.l.

91 . "The Dean of Death," by Joe Urschel, USA Today, April 11,1 995, p. 1 .

92. "Criminal justice aims even higher," p. 1.

93. Ibid.

94. Justice George Lewis Ruffin Society, Events and Accomplishments, 1984-1998,
Office of the Dean, College of Criminal Justice.

95. Graduate School of Engineering.

96. "NU trustee donates $6.7M for engineering building," by Ken Gornstein, North-
eastern Voice, May 26, 1994, p. 1.

97. Northeastern University Fact Book, 1995-96, Office of Institutional Research, p. 47.

98. Northeastern University Fact Book, 1990-91, Office of Marketing and institutional
Research and Planning, p. 42.

250

NOTES

99. College of Engineering presentation to the Trustees' Long-Range Planning Com-
mittee, Paul H. King, dean, and Richard J. Scranton, associate dean for under-
graduate programs, Dec. 15, 1995.

100. Index of the Massachusetts Innovation Economy, Massachusetts Technology Col-
laborative, 1997.

101. Consumer Price Index for a\\ urban consumers, U.S. city average, 1913-present, Bu-
reau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor.

102. Office of Institutional Research, Summary Admissions Profile Report. The College
Board recentered SAT score scales in 1996.

103. "Learning — w/hile serving," by Brian Regan, Northeastern Voice, June 1 1 , 1992, p. 9.

104. "1995 Excellence in Teaching Awards," Northeastern Voice, June 15, 1995, pp. 6-7.

105. "Budget, enrollment issues dampen engineering's gains," by Karen Feldscher,
Northeastern Voice, Dec. 7, 1995, p. 1.

106. "Center for biotechnology engineering launched," College of Engineering news-
letter. Spring 1990.

107. "CDSP: Three years of success," College of Engineering new/sletter, Spring 1990.

108. From Center for Electromagnetics Research Web site, www.cer.neu.edu.

109. Center for Electromagnetics Research, office of the associate director.

1 10. "Project SEED: A case study of success," by Alan Cromer and ChristosZahopoulos,
Arts ol Sciences Chronicle, Spring 1992, p. 12.

111. "Rising stars," Northeastern Voice, Sept. 22, 1 994, pp. 10-11.

1 1 2. "EE department cited in survey," Northeastern Voice, July 1 8, 1 991 , p. 2.

113. "Astronaut named to Snell chair," by Jeff Kantrowitz, Northeastern Voice, Feb. 28,
1997, p. 1.

1 1 4. College of Engineering dean's office.

115. "NU lands MIT's Lowell Institute," by Karen Feldscher, Northeastern Voice, Sept. 14,

1995, p. 3.

116. "About this issue," Northeastern University School of Law News Briefs, Summer
1994, p. 1.

117. "Law school renovation," Northeastern University School of Law News Briefs, Fall/
Winter 1990-91, p. 1.

118. "Hall seeks to build on past successes," by Ken Gornstein, Northeastern Voice,
July 1,1993, p. 1.

119. "Urban Law and Public Policy Institute receives $1.6 million grant to build com-
munity partnerships," Northeastern University School of Law News Briefs, Winter

1996, p. 3.

1 20. Office of Development Communications.

251

NOTES

121. "Report: NU law school excels in clinical training," Northeastern Voice, May 9,
1991, p. 4.

122. "School of Law named tops in public interest," Northeastern Voice, March 3, 1994,
p. 5.

123. "Law school rated 3rd best for women," Northeastern Voice, Dec. 7, 1995, p. 5.

124. "A Boston law school insists students get real-world training," by Joseph N. Boyce,
Wall Street Journal, Dec. 21 , 1995, p. Al .

125. Northeastern University Coming of Age, p. 156.

126. "NU to offer graduate nursing," Northeastern University Edition, Nov. 3, 1988, p. 1.

127. "Grad enrollments in nursing are on the rise," by Jessica Treadway, Northeastern
Voice, May 17, 1990, p. 2.

128. Northeastern University Fact Book, 1995-96, Office of Institutional Research, p. 61.

1 29. Office of the Dean, College of Nursing.

1 30. "$6M to aid community health care," Northeastern Voice, June 27, 1 991 , p. 1 .

131. "Nursing college shares $1M grant," by Karen Feldscher, Northeastern Voice,
March 16, 1995, p. 5.

132. "Nursing receives $1.8M Kellogg grant," by Karen Feldscher, Northeastern Voice,
April 25, 1996, p. 3.

133. "New nursing curriculum focuses on community-based health care," by Karen
Feldscher, Northeastern Voice, Oct. 12, 1995, p. 1.

134. "Alzheimer's treatment stresses quality over quantity of final years," by Karen
Feldscher, Northeastern Voice, Dec. 7, 1995, p. 9.

135. "Foundation gives $250K for nursing scholarships," Northeastern Voice, Nov. 18,
1993, p. 5.

136. Northeastern University, An Emerging Giant, pp. 44 and 96.

137. /b/c/., pp. 98 and 102.

1 38. Northeastern University Coming of Age, p. 1 65.

139. lbid.,p.^5A.

140. /fa/£/., pp. 165-166.

1 41 . Northeastern University Fact Book, 1 996-97, Office of Institutional Research, p. 51 .

142. Adult and Continuing Education at Northeastern University, Five-Year Plan, 1999-
2004, Office of the Vice Provost for Adult and Continuing Education and Dean of
University College.

143. University College Net Contribution Statement, Controller's Office.

144. Business Area Capital Planning Review, 1986-1996, Office of the Vice President
for Business.

252

NOTES

145. "University College to open Cairo campus," by Michael Keegan, Northeastern
V'o/ce, June 20, 1996, p. 1.

146. Office of the Vice Provost for Enrollment Management. The SAT scores cited may
seem high in relation to overall university scores cited in Chapter 4. The discrep-
ancy is the result of the College Board's 1996 decision to recenter SAT score
scales.

147. "NUCEA programming award goes to University College," Perspectives, University
College faculty/student newsletter. Winter 1991.

148. Division of Continuing Education.

149. Division of Continuing Education Three-Year Strategic Plan, 1991-92 through
1993-94, p. 4.

150. "Continuing a successful course," by Ken Gornstein, Northeastern Voice, Aug. 15,
1991, p. 1.

151. "Weld lauds NU's continuing education center," Northeastern Voice, Oct. 7, 1993,
p. 2.

Chapter Six

1. "Curry takes reins of world co-op group," by Michael Keegan, Northeastern Voice,
Sept. 8, 1994, p. 2.

2. "What's ahead for co-op.>" by Ken Gornstein, Northeastern University Magazine,
July 1991, p. 7.

3. "President emphasizes academics," by Karen Feldscher, Northeastern University
Edition, Sept. 28, 1 989, p. 1 .

4. "Weiss appointed interim co-op vice president," by Karen Feldscher, Northeastern
University Edition, Nov. 30, 1989, p. 1.

5. "Committee begins wide-ranging co-op study," by F. C. Nicholson, Northeastern
University Edition, April 26, 1990, p. 1.

6. "Reforms urged in co-op," by Ken Gornstein, Northeastern University Edition,
Dec. 6, 1990, p. 1.

7. Ibid.

8. "Decision imminent on tenure for co-op coordinators," by Karen Feldscher, North-
eastern Voice, April 1 1 , 1 991 , p. 1 .

9. "Faculty vote aims at co-op reform," by Ken Gornstein, Northeastern Voice, June 1 3,
1991, p. 1.

10. "Scarborough appointed v. p. for co-op," by Jessica Treadway, Northeastern Voice,
May 9, 1991, p. 1.

11. "More than just a job," by Karen Feldscher, Northeastern Voice, March 11, 1993,
p. 6.

253

NOTES

12. Ibid.

13. "Vozzella appointed interim co-op dean," Northeastern Voice, Dec. 12, 1991, p. 3.

14. "Vozzella named dean of co-op," by Ken Gornstein, Northeastern Voice, July 16,
1992, p. 1; "Scarborough to step down as co-op v. p.," by Michael Keegan, North-
eastern Voice, Sept. 8, 1 994, p. 1 ; "Vozzella tapped for co-op v. p.," by Ken Gornstein,
Northeastern Voice, Dec. 8, 1 994, p. 1 .

15. "More than just a job," p. 6.

16. "Curry terms co-op central to excellence," by Karen Feldscher, Northeastern Voice,
Sept. 23, 1993, p. 1 .

17. "Co-op issue sets faculty wondering," by Karen Feldscher, Northeastern Voice,
Oct. 7, 1993, p. 1.

1 8. "Cooperative education and the federal nexus: Two decades of federal support," by
Richard j. Rowe, Journal of Cooperative Education, Vol. XXIV, Nos. 2-3, p. 35.

19. "The Grassroots Connection: State and Regional Organizations in Cooperative Ed-
ucation," by Joseph E. Barbeau and Donna Reinhart Sm\t\r\, Journal of Cooperative
Education, Vol. XXIV, Nos. 2-3, p. 90.

20. Northeastern University International Student Office.

21 . Northeastern's international enrollments remained relatively constant through the
Curry years, even as overall enrollments fell.

22. "Southeast Asian co-op gets boost from grant," Northeastern Voice, Aug. 15, 1991,
p. 2.

23. Northeastern University Coming of Age: The Ryder Years, by Antoinette Frederick,
Northeastern University, 1995, p. 246.

24. "Curry trip nets $600K co-op grant," by Ken Gornstein, Northeastern Voice, April 28,
1994, p. 1.

25. "Irish eyes smile on Northeastern," by Ken Gornstein, Northeastern Voice,
March 17, 1994, p. 1; "Jamaican leader gets NU honorary," by Karen Feldscher,
Northeastern Voice, May 12, 1994, p. 1.

26. "New WAGE president proposes relocation of secretariat, appointment of executive
director," Global Newslink, a newsletter of the World Association for Cooperative
Education, Vol. 7, No. 2, Fall 1994.

27. Address to the university corporation, John A. Curry, May 24, 1994.

Chapter Seven

1. "Curry returns for student fete," by Michael Keegan, Northeastern Voice, Nov. 7,
1996, p. 1.

2. "President emphasizes academics," by Karen Feldscher, Northeastern Voice,
Sept. 28, 1989, p. 1.

254

NOTES

3. "President targets improved services," Northeastern Voice, Oct. 10, 1991, p. 3.

4. "Fixup planned for 27-year-old student center," by Jason Stuckey, Northeastern
Voice, March 26, 1992, p. 3.

5. "Ell renovations eyed for summer," by Michael Keegan, Northeastern Voice,
March 11, 1993, p. 1.

6. Office of the Vice President for Business.

7. "Bookstore moves into the 1990s," by Meg McCaffrey, Northeastern Voice, Aug. 19,

1993, p. 3.

8. "Ell renovations eyed for summer," p. 1.

9. "Ell Center to reopen Sept. 18," by Ken Gornstein, Northeastern Voice, Sept. 9, 1994,
p. 5.

10. "New/ international center set to open in fall," by Meg McCaffrey, Northeastern
Voice, July 22, 1993, p. 3; "International center opens," by Shanta Raveen White,
Northeastern Voice, Feb. 17, 1994, p. 5.

11. "Latino studies, outreach boosted," by Lisa Watts, Northeastern Voice, Sept. 12,

1991, p. 1.

12. "Northeastern names hall for O'Bryant," by Jessica Treadw/ay, Northeastern Voice,
Oct. 8, 1992, p. 1.

13. "Holding out hope for chapel renovations," by Carolyn Toll Oppenheim, Northeast-
ern Unii^ersity Magazine, Jan. 1997, p. 22.

14. "Chapel renovations move ahead," by Meghan Erica Irons, Northeastern Voice
Web site, Feb. 2, 1998, WA^A^/. voice. neu.edu.

15. "Students gain input on grad speaker," by Karen Feldscher, Northeastern Voice,
Oct. 20, 1994, p. 1.

16. "Service key to retention, recruitment," by Lisa Watts, Northeastern Voice, Jan. 30,

1992, p. 9.

17. "SNAP program aims to improve student services," by Kriston Anderson, North-
eastern Voice, Jan. 28, 1993, p. 3.

18. "Ell system puts information at fingertips," by Shanta Raveen White, Northeastern
Voice, }an. 13, 1994, p. 3.

19. "Freshman affairs duties shifted to basic colleges," Northeastern Voice, Aug. 11,

1994, p. 7.

20. "Living, learning in dorms," by Ken Gornstein, Northeastern Voice, Sept. 24, 1992,
p. 4.

21. "Housing puts on new face," by Michael Keegan, Northeastern Voice, Sept. 9, 1993,
p.l.

22. "The profs who came to dinner," by Michael Keegan, Northeastern Voice, March 1 7,
1994, p. 3.

255

NOTES

23. "Say goodbye to 'summer melt'," by Karen Feldscher, Northeastern Voice, March 3,

1994, p. 1.

24. "Orientation earns high marks," by Karen Feldscher, Northeastern Voice, March 30,

1995, p. 3.

25. "Student stabbed to death on Columbus Ave.," by Lisa Watts, Northeastern Voice,
Jan. 18, 1990, p. 1; "Murder's reverberations echo throughout campus," by Lisa
Watts, Northeastern Voice, Feb. 1, 1990, p. 1.

26. "Recommendation to ban ROTC defeated in student vote," by Mark DiPietro,
Northeastern Voice, May 17, 1990, p. 5.

27. "Budgetary boost proposed," by Karen Feldscher, Northeastern Voice, Feb. 1, 1990,
p. 1; "President announces enrollment cap, tuition limit," by Karen Feldscher,
Northeastern Voice, Sept. 20, 1 990, p. 1 .

28. "Curry pledges to keep tuition hike as low as possible," by Ken Gornstein, North-
eastern Voice, Feb. 27, 1992, p. 1.

29. Office of Institutional Research.

30. Budget office.

31. "Two new awards offered," Northeastern Voice, Jan. 14, 1993, p. 1.

32. "Student aid gets boost," by Ken Gornstein, Northeastern Voice, Aug. 1 3, 1 992, p. 1 .

33. "Curry seeks federal help for education," by Brian Regan, Northeastern Voice,
May 21, 1992, p. 3.

34. "Curry: Student aid picture bleak," by Michael Keegan, Northeastern Voice, Feb. 16,
1995, p. 3.

35. "Students rally against aid cuts," by Michael Keegan, Northeastern Voice, May 11,
1995, p. 4.

36. "Scholarship to be named for Curry," Northeastern Voice, May 16, 1996, p. 5.

Chapter Eight

1. "The University in a Democracy: Empowerment, Tolerance, and Community," in-
augural address by John A. Curry, fifth president. Northeastern University, Dec. 1,
1989.

2. From commemorative booklet presented at retirement dinner for John A. Curry,
December 1996.

3. Northeastern Unii/ersity Coming of Age: The Ryder Years, 1975-1989, by Antoinette
Frederick, Northeastern University, 1995, p. 184.

4. /fo/c/., p. 185.

5. /fa/d., p. 188.

6. Ibicl.,p.^9e.

256

NOTES

7. Ibicl.,p.^94.

8. Office of Institutional Research.

9. "Course targets Latino students," by Karen Feldscher, Northeastern Voice, April 22,
1993, p. 7.

10. Population Estimates Program, Population Division, U.S. Census Bureau.

11. "Foreign enrollments on rise at Northeastern," by Jessica Treadway, Northeastern
Voice, Feb. 14, 1991, p. 7; Northeastern University Fact Booi<s, Office of Institutional
Research, 1992-93 through 1996-97.

12. Commission on Diversity and Community, final report. May 18, 1992; "Curry
to name ombudsperson for diversity," by Jessica Treadway, Northeastern Voice,
May 21, 1992, p. 1.

13. Ibid.

1 4. Summary of Progress on Recommendations of the 1 992 Commission on Diversity,
prepared May 24, 1997 by Harlan Lane and reviewed by the Working Group on
Diversity.

15. "Minority faculty numbers up one third this fall," by Karen Feldscher, Northeastern
University Edition, Oct. 12, 1989, p. 1.

16. Office of Institutional Research.

17. "Up against the glass ceiling," by Karen Feldscher, Northeastern Voice, May 27,
1993, p. 6.

18. Ibid.

19. "Psychology department holds research apprentice program for minority stu-
dents," Arts Bl Sciences Chronicle, Spring 1990, p. 8.

20. "Psychology department makes gains in minority recruitment," by Ken Gornstein,
Northeastern Voice, Feb. 14, 1991, p. 1.

21 . "University reviews benefits policy," by Michael Keegan, Northeastern Voice, Feb. 1 1 ,
1993, p. 3; "Panel backs benefits for gay partners," by Michael Keegan, Northeast-
ern Voice, May 27, 1993, p. 1.

22. Goals Summary, 1995-96, a report for President John A. Curry from John A.
Martin, Vice President — Business, July 29, 1996, p. 9.

23. Office of the Vice President for Business.

24. "Campaign targets racism," by Jessica Treadway, Northeastern Voice, Nov. 1, 1990,
p.l.

25. "Northeastern names hall for O'Bryant," by Jessica Treadway, Northeastern Voice,
Oct. 8, 1992, p. 1.

26. Board of Trustees office.

257

NOTES

27. "Latino studies, outreach boosted," by Lisa Watts, Northeastern Voice, Sept. 12,
1991, p. 1.

28. "New scholarships set for Latino students," Northeastern Voice, March 31, 1994,
p. 5.

29. "Rodriguez named head of Latino studies program," Northeastern Voice, July 22,

1993, p. 5.

30. Disability Resource Center.

31. "Speaker's theories decried," by Karen Feldscher, Northeastern Voice, Jan. 26, 1995,
p.l.

32. "The right to be wrong," by John A. Curry, Boston Globe, Feb. 14, 1995, p. 15.

33. "Speaker's theories decried," p. 1 .

34. "Jeffries defends scholarly record," by Ken Gornstein, Northeastern Voice, Feb. 16,
1995, p.l.

35. "The bitter fruit of diversity," by Arthur Weitzman, Northeastern Voice, Feb. 16, 1995,
p. 4.

36. "Forum to explore black issues," by Meghan Erica Irons, Northeastern Voice,
March2, 1995, p.l.

37. "Gay recruitment issues spurs PC debate," by Karen Feldscher, Northeastern Voice,
Feb. 17, 1994, p.l.

38. "Women celebrate gains of past decade at NU," by Jessica Treadway, Northeastern
Voice, May 21, 1992, p. 7.

39. "Gays mark 10 years of progress," by Meg McCaffrey, Northeastern Voice, June 16,

1994, p. 5.

40. Office of the President Emeritus.

41 . Address to the university corporation, John A. Curry, June 6, 1 996.

Chapter Nine

1. "Lawsuits snarl dorm plans," by Karen Feldscher, Northeastern University Edition,
July 13, 1989, p. 3.

2. Northeastern University Coming of Age: The Ryder Years, 1975-1989, by Antoinette
Frederick, Northeastern University, 1995, pp. 203-205.

3. "Dorm suit may still be settled," by Karen Feldscher, Northeastern Voice, April 11,
1991, p. 6.

4. "NU eyes moves to aid Fenway," by Lisa Watts, Northeastern Voice, Oct. 11, 1991,
p.l.

5. "Neighbors praise NU, hit dorm plan," by Karen Feldscher, Northeastern Voice,
Feb. 28, 1991, p. 1.

258

NOTES

6. Northeastern University Contribution to the Boston Public Schools, 1 995-96, Cen-
ter for Innovation in Urban Education.

7. Northeastern University Coming of Age, pp. 1 85-1 89.

8. "A new approach to education," by Ken Gornstein, Northeastern Voice, Jan. 14,
1993, p. 5.

9. "The University in a Democracy: Empow/erment, Tolerance, and Community," in-
augural address by John A. Curry, Northeastern University, Dec. 1, 1989.

10. "Mission possible," by Daniel Penrice, Northeastern University Magazine, Jan. 1999,
p. 18.

11. "NU gets an education from Tobin Scholars," by Howard Manly, Boston Globe,
Dec. 8, 1 996, City Weekly section, p. 1 .

12. "NU meets Menino's challenge," by Meghan Erica Irons, Northeastern Voice,
Jan. 12, 1995, p. 1.

13. "NU to audit finances of Hub schools," Northeastern Voice, Feb. 14, 1991, p. 1.

14. "School audit to examine budgeting, management," by Karen Feldscher, North-
eastern Voice, March 14, 1991, p. 1.

15. The Boston Public Schools: An Assessment of Governance, Operations, and Finance,
prepared for the Mayor of Boston, Superintendent of Schools, and the Boston
School Committee, July 1991, by Northeastern University; "NU report suggests
Hub school reforms," by Karen Feldscher, Northeastern Voice, July 18, 1991, p. 1.

1 6. "Culver to help steer schools," by Ken Gornstein, Northeastern Voice, Jan. 1 6, 1 992,
p.l.

17. "Boston-Fenway Program maps upgrading of Huntington Ave.," by Karen Feld-
scher, Northeastern Voice, March 11, 1993, p. 1.

18. "State gives $2.7M for cultural district," Northeastern Voice, Jan. 25, 1996, p. 11.

19. Goals Summary, 1995-96, a report for President John A. Curry from John A.
Martin, Vice President — Business, July 29, 1996, p. 6.

20. "Fenway center honors university," Northeastern Voice, Feb. 15, 1996, p. 5.

21. "Registry to close Roxbury offices; 'sick building' may reopen in 6 months," by
Peter J. Howe and Paul Langner, Boston Globe, July 7, 1995, metro section, p. 1.

22. "Bank ends Roxbury project; forecloses on loan on Registry building," by Michael
Grunwald, Boston Globe, Oct. 9, 1996, p. Bl; "NU to buy Registry building," by
Karen Feldscher, Northeastern Voice Web site, July 8, 1997, www.voice.neu.edu.

23. Business Area Capital Planning Review, 1 986-1 996, Office of the Vice President for
Business.

24. "NU, City Year form partnership," by Michael Keegan, Northeastern Voice, April 8,
1993, p.l.

259

NOTES

25. "White House picks Northeastern for $380,000 national service grant," Northeast-
em Voice, May 6, 1993, p. 1.

26. "Tomorrow's leaders get boost from Hub program," by Jessica Treadway, North-
eastern Voice, March 14, 1991, p. 5.

27. "NU saluted as most improved city neighbor," by Brian Regan, Northeastern Voice,
Sept. 24, 1992, p. 1.

28. "NU named city's best non-profit institution," by Ken Gornstein, Northeastern
Voice, Nov. 19, 1992, p. 1.

29. "Student aid gets boost," by Ken Gornstein, Northeastern Voice, Aug. 1 3, 1 992, p. 1 .

30. "Biting the helping hand," by John Curry, Boston Globe, Feb. 3, 1993, p. 1 7.

31 . " 'Common core' is ill-advised," by John A. Curry, Boston Globe, Feb. 20, 1 994, p. 93.

32. "President Curry named to NAICU board of directors," Northeastern Voice, Jan. 14,
1993, p. 5.

33. "Skimping on research," by John A. Curry, Boston Globe, May 2, 1 994, p. 1 1 .

34. "Curry urges new aid plan," by Ken Gornstein, Northeastern Voice, Nov. 19, 1992,
p. 3.

35. "Curry seeks support for co-op," Northeastern Voice, July 18, 1991, p. 2.

36. "NU awarded $13.5 million for library construction," by Karen Feldscher, North-
eastern Edition, July 17, 1986, p. 1.

37. "Clinton named main speaker for graduation," by Michael Keegan, Northeastern
Voice, May 6, 1993, p. 1.

Chapter Ten

1. Northeastern University Master Plan Information, Fall 1996, Office of the Vice
President for Business.

2. "Gray Brick, Red Brick: Building a University," by Peter Serenyi, emeritus professor
of art and architecture, in Tradition and Innovation: Reflections on Northeastern Uni-
versity's First Century, edited by Linda Smith Rhoads, Northeastern University Pub-
lications, 1998, p. 36.

3. Ibid., p. 36.

4. Northeastern University, An Emerging Giant: 1969-1975, by Antoinette Frederick,
Northeastern University Custom Book Program, Boston, 1982, p. xvi.

5. The classroom building was named Robert J. Shillman Hall in October 1999, in
honor of the 1968 engineering graduate who contributed $3 million toward the
building.

6. "Snell honored at library dedication," by Ken Gornstein, Northeastern Voice,
Nov. 15, 1990, p. 3.

260

NOTES

7. "NU trustee donates $6.7M for engineering building," by Ken Cornstein, North-
eastern Voice, May 26, 1994, p. 1.

8. "Grad gives $5.5M for recreation center," by Ken Cornstein, Northeastern Voice,
AprillB, 1995, p. 1.

9. Capital Planning Review, 1986-1996, Office of the Vice President for Business.

10. Ibid.

11. Ibid.

12. The student center renovation is described more fully in Chapter 7.

13. Capital Planning Review.

14. Ibid.

15. Ibid.

16. Ibid.

17. Ibid.

18. Ibid.

19. "Varsity Club to bear name of NU official," Northeastern Voice, June 25, 1992, p. 8.

20. Northeastern University Master Plan Information, Sasaki Associates, Sept. 1987,
p. 15.

21. Ibid., p. 20.

22. "Northeastern brick" was specially designed for Northeastern in the 1 930s by Clen-
Ceri Brick of Philadelphia. Source: "At a glance," Northeastern Edition, Oct. 9, 1986,
p. 5.

23. "Gray Brick, Red Brick," in Tradition and Innovation, p. 30.

24. Ibid., p. 35.

25. Capital Planning Review.

26. "Dean Hallenborg succumbs to cancer," Northeastern Voice, Feb. 28, 1991, p. 3.

27. Capital Planning Review.

28. "Quad named for trustee Krentzman," by Karen Feldscher, Northeastern Voice,
May 16, 1996, p. 1.

29. "Young statue recalls old memories," by Michael Keegan, Northeastern Voice,
Oct. 7, 1993, p. 7.

30. "NU graduate to donate sculpture to university," Northeastern Voice, p. 5.

31. "Up in flames," by Lynne M. Ostrowski, Northeastern Voice, Sept. 22, 1994, p. 3.

32. "Sculpture park unveiled," by Michael Keegan, Northeastern Voice Web site, Sept. 4,
1997, WAAAA/. voice. neu.edu.

33. Northeastern Art Book, Physical Plant office. Data and Graphic Services.

261

NOTES

34. Coals Summary, 1995-96, a report by John A. Martin, vice president for business,
for President John A. Curry, July 29, 1996.

35. Ibid.

36. Capital Planning Review.

37. Ibid.

38. Office of Space Planning and Analysis.

39. "A Message from President John A. Curry," The Connected Campus, a newsletter of
the President's Telecommunications Advisory Committee, Vol. 1 , Spring 1 993, p. 1 .

40. "The connected campus: A vision for the future of communications systems at
Northeastern University," by the Communications Systems Task Force of the
Telecommunications Advisory Committee, December 1992, p. 1.

41. Ibid., p. 2.

42. "A Message from President John A. Curry," p. 1 .

43. "Information technology planning and management at Northeastern University,"
report by Glenn Pierce, director. Division of Academic Computing, 1994.

44. "Rigg, Harris nominated for VP posts," by Karen Feldscher, Northeastern Voice,
Sept. 24, 1992, p. 1.

45. "Northeastern's Connected Campus enhances learning environment," Columns,
IBM Academic Information Systems Newsletter, Fall/Winter 1993, p. 1.

46. From commemorative booklet presented at John A. Curry's retirement dinner, De-
cember 1996.

Chapter Eleven

1. "NU trustee donates $6.7M for engineering building," by Ken Cornstein, North-
eastern Voice, May 26, 1994, p. 1 .

2. "Grad gives $5.5M for recreation center," by Ken Cornstein, Northeastern Voice,
April 13, 1995, p. 1.

3. "Who's the next EMC? Those who bet early may share a bonanza, but crystal balls
rare," by Steven Syre and Charles Stein, Boston Globe, Dec. 14, 1999, page CI 5.

4. "The Century Fund — Phase II surpasses $175 million goal," Focus on Develop-
ment, Northeastern University Magazine, July 1991, p. 29.

5. Office of Development.

6. Memo from Eugene M. Reppucci, Jr., to John A. Curry, "1990-91 Coals and
Progress," April 26, 1991.

7. Office of Development.

8. "NU, Reebok team up to help race relations," by Mark DePietro, Northeastern Uni-
versity Edition, April 12, 1990, p. 1.

262

NOTES

9. Office of Development.

10. "Centut7 Fund nears $175 million goal," by Ken Gornstein, Northeastern Voice,
Nov. 1, 1990, p. 3.

1 1 . Budget for University Development, 1 986-87 through 1 997-98, Office of Records,
Research, and Gift Information.

12. Position paper by Eugene M. Reppucci, Jr., presented to John A. Curry, Decem-
ber 1989.

13. "Development office is reorganized," Northeastern Voice, Jan. 16, 1992, p. 3.

14. Reppucci, "1990-91 Goals and Progress."

15. "VP Toebes recalled as dedicated pro," by Karen Feldscher, Northeastern Voice,
June 16, 1994, p. 1.

16. "Reppucci announces retirement," by Karen Feldscher, Northeastern Voice,
March 31, 1994, p. 1.

17. Final Report, The Centennial Campaign for Northeastern University, Office of the
Senior Vice President for Development.

18. "The Shape of Success: The Centennial Campaign for Northeastern University,
1991-97," Office of Development Communications, p. 24.

19. Ibicl.,p.^6.

20. Office of Development.

21. "The Shape of Success," pp. 14, 18.

Chapter Twelve

1. NCAA Certification Self-Study Report: An Assessment of Governance & Compli-
ance, Academic Integrity, Fiscal Integrity, and Commitment to Equity, March 1996,
p. 1.4.

2. Capital Planning Review, 1 986-1 996, Office of the Vice President for Business.

3. "Kudos for boathouse," Northeastern Voice, March 14, 1991, p. 4.

4. Letters, Northeastern University Magazine, Nov. 1998, p. 5.

5. "The Challenger," by Robin Deutsch, Northeastern University Magazine, July 1991,
p. 13.

6. "Men's, women's athletics merged in economy move," by Karen Feldscher, North-
eastern Voice, July 18, 1991, p. 1.

7. "UCLA's Condon named to senior athletics position," by Michael Keegan, North-
eastern Voice, Sept. 22, 1994, p. 7.

8. "Sporting chance: Despite ongoing challenges and resentments. Title IX has
fundamentally changed our attitudes," by Mary Leonard, Boston Globe, June 1,
1997, p. CI.

263

NOTES

9. "Coaches applaud new sports plan," by Ken Cornstein, Northeastern Voice, Oct. 1 2,
1995, p. 1.

10. "Athletics self-study parallels panel work," by Michael Keegan, Northeastern Voice,
April 27, 1995, p. 1.

1 1 . NCAA Certification Self-Study Report, p. 4.4.

12. "Curry orders athletics probe after Lewis drug allegations," by Michael Keegan and
Meghan Erica Irons, Northeastern Voice, March 20, 1995, p. 1.

13. Ibid.

14. "Curry to act on Lewis committee recommendations," by Ken Cornstein, North-
eastern Voice, April 25, 1996, p. 1.

15. "NU, Reebok team up to help race relations," by Mark DiPietro, Northeastern Uni-
versity Edition, April 12, 1990, p. 1.

16. "Center for the Study of Sport in Society Tackles Tough Issues," The Centennial
Campaign News for Northeastern University, Spring 1996, Vol. 1, No. 3, p. 1.

1 7. "Former Husky leads America to gold," by Michael Keegan, Northeastern Voice Web
site, Feb. 17, 1998, www.voice.neu.edu.

18. NCAA Certification Self-Study Report, p. 2.27.

19. "Curry heads list of six new Hall of Fame inductees," Northeastern Voice, May 12,

1994, p. 8.

Chapter Thirteen

1 . "Pomp &, populism," by James Ross, supplement to Northeastern University Maga-
zine, ]u\y ^ 993.

2. Address to the university corporation, John A. Curry, May 28, 1996.

3. "Biting the helping hand," by John A. Curry, Boston Globe, Feb. 3, 1 993, p. 1 7.

4. "Clinton's education dept. taking the wrong course," by John A. Curry, Boston Her-
ald, Feb. 13, 1994.

5. "Curry decision stuns campus," by Ken Cornstein, Northeastern Voice, Sept. 28,

1995, p. 1.

6. "NU taps Freeland as sixth president," by Karen Feldscher and Ken Cornstein,
Northeastern Voice, May 28, 1996, p. 2.

7. "Leaders react to Curry's decision to step down," Northeastern Voice, Sept. 28, 1 995,
p. 7.

8. Letter from John Silberto John A. Curry, July 14, 1996.

9. Address to the university corporation, John A. Curry, May 23, 1995.

264

NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY CHRONOLOGY

1989-1996

1989 - 90 John Anthony Curry is named the fifth president of Northeastern Uni-
versity in June 1989.

Northeastern's endowment stands at $150 miUion in July.

Barron's elevates Northeastern from its status as "less competitive" to
a "competitive plus" institution.

The Henderson Boathouse is dedicated in November.

The Center for Effective Teaching is created.

Roy Wooldridge, vice president for cooperative education, retires in
December; Karl Weiss is appointed interim vice president for co-op.

Curry is inaugurated as president in December.

The university provides 500 personal computers for students and be-
gins aggressive actions to add more.

Student Mark Belmore is murdered near campus in January.

The trustees approve a second mortgage plan, allotting $1.6 million to
attract new faculty to the university.

In March, an international conference, "Particles, Strings, and Cos-
mology," is held on campus with Stephen Hawking as the main
speaker, drawing physicists from around the world.

Senior vice president James King leads a Northeastern delegation
to assist vnth free elections in Romania, funded by a grant from the
U.S. Democracy Training Project.

265

NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY CHRONOLOGY, 1989-1996

1989 - 90 Journalist Marvin Kalb is the first speaker in a Presidential Lecture Se-
(cont.) ries initiated by President Curry.

Partly in response to Fenway neighborhood concerns, a new student
code of conduct is developed.

Interim co-op vice president Karl Weiss begins a major study of co-
operative education with the involvement of 73 faculty and staff mem-
bers. The so-called Cooperative Education Planning Project examines
tenure for co-op professionals, administrative organization, market-
ing and advertising, and external funding.

In March, the trustees approve a 1990-91 budget of nearly $232
million.

President Curry presents and the trustees approve a $25 million tax-
exempt bond program for a major renovation and expansion of the law
school; relocation of the College of Criminal Justice to Churchill Hall;
the purchase of computer, research, and instructional equipment; the
renovation of Dodge Hall into a new home for the College of Business
Administration; a feasibility study for a new engineering /science
building; and the purchase of a new warehouse.

Scholarships are increased for Ell Scholars and other honors
students.

In April, Michael Baer is named provost.

Reebok provides a $750,000 grant for the Center for the Study of Sport
in Society to combat racism in public schools.

In May, a major residence hall, West Hall, is named for Robert
Willis, chairman emeritus of the Board of Trustees; another residence
hall, at 115-119 Hemenway, is named in memory of Christopher
Kennedy, beloved student affairs administrator and vice president for
administration.

In a speech to the university's corporation in May, President Curry pre-
dicts that cost-containment measures will be needed for 1990-91 due
to the recession, a decline in the number of high school graduates, and
anticipated cutbacks in federal and state funding.

In June, President Curry freezes hiring for new positions and post-
pones salary increases until January 1, 1991.

266

NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY CHRONOLOGY, 1989-1996

1990-91 The university ends the 1989-90 budget year with a $2.2 miUion
surplus.

Asa Smallidge Knowles, Northeastem's third president, dies in
August.

At the mid- September trustees' meeting, President Curry previews
his "smaller but better" address to be delivered to faculty and staff the
following week, in which he asks the community to join him in creat-
ing a bold new strategy leading to a leaner, better Northeastern. The
trustees vote to create a special committee to assist Curry in address-
ing enrollment issues.

Snell Library, named for the building's main benefactor, George Snell,
opens in the fall.

Robert Culver becomes senior vice president and treasurer.

In October, the Ruggles Building is renamed Ryder Hall in honor of
Chancellor Kenneth Gilmore Ryder.

Northeastern acquires a property at 27 Tavern Road and demolishes
it, allowing the possibility of future building on the west side of
campus.

The university trims $11 milhon from its $232 million 1990-91
budget through salary deferral, a hiring freeze, and other measures.

President Curry calls for increased selectivity in admissions, noting
that 10,300 of 10,600 applicants were admitted to the fall 1990 entering
class.

In December, after studying co-op for several months, the Cooperative
Education Planning Project committee makes more than 100 recom-
mendations to enhance the program, including improving connec-
tions between academics and co-op; changing tenure eligibility for co-
op professionals; and enhancing marketing, technology, research, and
organization.

Barry Karger, director of the Barnett Institute for Chemical Analysis
and Materials Science, receives the National Institute of Health's Merit
Award for $1 million.

Students ask that ROTC be ousted from campus by 1993; President
Curry refuses but publicly denounces the U.S. Defense Department's
policy discriminating against gays.

267

NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY CHRONOLOGY, 1989-1996

1990-91 Students recommend a major renovation of the student center.

In December, a guide to the nation's top business schools pubHshed by
Prentice Hall lists the College of Business Administration's graduate
program as one of the best in the country.

Barry Gallup is hired as football coach.

In January, President Curry announces the layoff of 175 administra-
tive/professional staff; a total of 400 positions are eliminated through
attrition, buyouts, and early retirement.

Provost Baer establishes a committee to consider merging the colleges
of engineering and computer science.

In January, engineering professor J. Spencer Rochefort and senior
research associate Lawrence O'Connor win a $9.5 million, five-year
U. S. Air Force grant.

President Curry eliminates four vice presidential positions as part of
university downsizing.

Jeanne Rowlands, pioneer in women's athletics at Northeastern, re-
tires; the men's and women's athletics departments are merged several
months later.

American Rowing magazine selects Henderson Boathouse as the best
boathouse in the United States.

Northeastern's development office announces its best cash year ever as
The Century Fund — Phase II draws to a close.

In February, Boston Mayor Raymond Flynn chooses Northeastern to
undertake a massive study of the Boston pubHc schools.

Northeastern is admitted to the Yankee Conference in football.

State scholarships for Massachusetts college and university students
drop from $80 million to $40 million.

The university purchases a new warehouse on Atherton Street in
Jamaica Plain.

Northeastern ranks fourth nationally in terms of the number of
physician assistant program students passing the national licensing
examination.

268

NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY CHRONOLOGY, 1989-1996

1990-91 In April, Neal Finnegan, chair of the trustees' special committee on
(cont.) enrollments, reports that the committee and Curry agree that North-

eastern must improve selectivity and retention and move in new
strategic directions.

In May, U.S. News ^ World Report rates the law school fourth nationally
for its clinical training program.

Viewlogic Systems, Inc., of Marlboro, Mass., donates $3 million in
software, the largest such gift in the university's history.

In May, the university recognizes Thomas "Tip" O'Neill, Jr., Speaker
of the House, by naming a political science chair in his honor.

Provost Baer announces a "strategic initiatives" program to generate
academic innovation.

The trustees approve a $213 million budget for 1991-92, $19 million
less than the previous year's budget.

In May, Jane Scarborough becomes Northeastern's first woman vice
president, leading cooperative education; James Fox is named interim
dean of the College of Criminal Justice.

President Curry is elected chairman of the Association of Independent
Colleges and Universities of Massachusetts by his private university
colleagues.

In June, The Century Fund — Phase II is successfully completed, sur-
passing its $175 million goal by nearly $12 million.

The W. K. Kellogg Foundation awards $6 million to the College of
Nursing and local university and health center partners for an initia-
tive in community health education.

In a campus survey, 82 percent of students give high ratings to co-op.

In June, the Faculty Senate overwhelmingly supports a new faculty
classification plan for co-op professionals.

James Fox is named dean of the College of Criminal Justice.

First Lady Barbara Bush speaks at Northeastern's June com-
mencement.

Psychology professor Harlan Lane wdns a prestigious MacArthur
Foundation "genius" grant.

269

NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY CHRONOLOGY, 1989-1996

1991-92 Budget year 1990-91 ends with a surplus of more than $350,000.

In the fall, the Center for the Study of Sport in Society is awarded
$1.1 million by the National Football League to nationally expand Proj-
ect Teamwork, a public schools program aimed at combating racism
and violence.

In August, President Curry is keynote speaker at the World Confer-
ence on Cooperative Education in Hong Kong.

Northeastern's office of international cooperative education wins a
$900,000 grant from the U.S. Agency for International Development
to introduce cooperative education in Asia.

Sociology professor Jack Levin is named Massachusetts College
Teacher of the Year.

In the fall, the electrical and computer engineering department ranks
second in external funding only to the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology among all New England electrical engineering depart-
ments, according to the American Society of Engineering Education.

More than 650 faculty and staff volunteer to become "freshman
friends" to assure a more student-centered environment.

In October, President George Bush approves $45 million for coopera-
tive education expansion after intense lobbying by the Northeastern
administration.

Northeastern's public relations department generates an all-time high
of 2,000 national news placements per quarter.

In fall 1991, university- wide plant improvements include the land-
scaping of Cabot Court and the Hurtig- Robinson quadrangle, the ren-
ovation of Blackman Auditorium, the construction of a new entrance
to Matthews Arena, and the creation of basketball courts on the Speare
parking area.

Boston Edison sponsors a $3.5 million energy conservation program
at Northeastern.

In October, senior administrators complete an updated facilities
master plan, including an engineering /science research center, new
classrooms, a recreation center, parking improvements, and building
renovations.

270

NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY CHRONOLOGY, 1989-1996

1991-92 Former criminal justice dean Norman Rosenblatt dies in December.

(cont.)

Northeastern's financial aid budget is increased to $16 million, up

$4 million from 1989, despite budget cutbacks in most areas.

Following the transfer of Boston University's graduate nursing pro-
grams to Northeastern, the programs receive accreditation.

In the winter, the Board of Trustees approves major parts of a five-year
master plan for facilities, including an engineering /science research
center, a new home in Dodge Hall for the College of Business Ad-
ministration, a renovated administration building at 716 Columbus
Avenue, a classroom building, a steam plant, an overhaul of Parsons
Field, and a new telecommunications system. To fund master plan
projects and refinance the university's debt, the trustees approve a
$90 million tax-exempt bond.

Forbes magazine lists 200 leaders of top small companies in the United
States, noting that more of those leaders graduated from Northeastern
than any other university.

Peter Stace is appointed vice provost for enrollment management in
January.

Four hundred and fifty positions have been eliminated from the
budget since late 1990.

Network Northeastern begins a new series of televised courses to area
hospitals.

Northeastern receives a $6 million federal grant for its new engineer-
ing/science research center.

President Curry is awarded a new five-year contract through 1996 fol-
lowing a favorable trustee review.

Despite an enrollment drop, Northeastern moves to expand and im-
prove its classrooms by constructing new ones and upgrading exist-
ing ones.

In January at a meeting of member presidents of the Association of
Independent Colleges and Universities of Massachusetts, President
Curry discusses the steps a university should take to position itself for
the future.

271

NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY CHRONOLOGY, 1989-1996

1991-92 Thomas Campbell, distinguished law professor, is named interim
(cont.) dean of the law school.

In March, the Board of Trustees, on the recommendation of the ad-
ministration, approves a 1992-93 budget of $217 million.

The Associated Press runs a national story in March noting that
Northeastern is "ahead of the curve" in facing the tough issues in
higher education, and the Association of Governing Boards compli-
ments the university for dealing proactively with budget problems
by eliminating positions.

In April, colors and flags are added across campus to improve the
environment and enhance building identification.

President Curry appoints a commission on tolerance, diversity, and
community, chaired by MacArthur scholar Harlan Lane, to recom-
mend ways for Northeastern to provide a welcoming environment for
diverse populations.

For a week in May, the AIDS Quilt is displayed at Northeastern as
a tribute to the university's leadership on tolerance and diversity
issues.

Since 1990, state scholarships for college and university students have
been cut from $86 million to $35 million; Northeastern students' por-
tion drops from $5.5 million to $2.5 million in 1992 alone.

The university holds its first reception honoring all faculty members
who published books during the 1991-92 academic year.

Northeastem's alumni magazine is awarded a gold medal for best
quality in the United States from the Council for the Advancement
and Support of Education (CASE).

President Curry's leadership of Northeastern is highlighted in the
Boston Business Journal.

Hallenborg Way, a pathway between Leon Street and Huntington
Avenue, is dedicated in memory of Northeastem's physical planning
director, Charles Hallenborg.

Speare Hall is designated as a "learning-living center" as Northeast-
ern continues to differentiate its residence halls for greater student
choice.

272

NORTHEASTERN U N I VE RS ITY CH RO N O LOG Y, 1989-1996

1991-92 In May, Northeastern wins a national award from the Council for
(cont.) the Advancement and Support of Education for mobiHzing alumni

fundraising support.

Northeastern is the sole urban university honored by Barbara Bush
and the American Association of Nurserymen for its landscaping
improvements.

In June, the Board of Trustees approves a goal of $225 million for the
new Centennial capital campaign.

President Curry continues as chair of the Association of Independent
Colleges and Universities of Massachusetts. In this role, he convinces
the legislative leadership to override Governor Weld's veto and to boost
state scholarships for college students from $35 million to $54 million
for the following academic year.

The College of Nursing begins a new nurse anesthesia program with
the New England Medical Center

In July, President Curry visits President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt at
the University of Alexandria to discuss the feasibility of introducing
cooperative education to Egyptian universities.

David Hall is named dean of the School of Law.

1992-93 John D. O'Bryant, vice president for student affairs, dies in July.

The university ends the 1992 fiscal year with a surplus of $231,000.

In the fall, average SAT scores for entering freshmen are 34 points
higher than in 1991, with the national average up only 3 points for that
same period.

Despite the recession, 97 percent of Northeastem's co-op students are
working.

A new academic strategic planning process, initiated by provost Baer,
begins with the creation of a steering committee, college task forces,
university-wide task forces, and a set of operating principles, with the
anticipation that hundreds of faculty members v^ll be involved.

Freshman enrollments top 2,500, stronger than the budgeted figure
of 2,400.

James Fox is appointed dean of the College of Criminal Justice.

273

NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY CHRONOLOGY, 1989-1996

1992-93 In October, the university names its African-American Institute in
(cont.) honor of John D. O' Bryant.

Karen Rigg is named vice president for student affairs; George
Harris is named vice president for information services.

President Curry is elected chair of the Boston-Fenway group of in-
stitutions committed to improving thoroughfares and gateways in
the Fenway and Roxbury areas, particularly Huntington Avenue and
Melnea Cass Boulevard.

Vice provost Peter Stace introduces a new integrated enrollment man-
agement model at Northeastern.

Provost Baer announces that between 1990 and 1992, budget cuts in
academic areas have totaled $33 million.

In October, Northeastern receives a $9 million federal grant for the
engineering /science center in addition to $6 million previously ob-
tained, thanks to intense congressional lobbying.

President Curry — along with Congressman Joseph Moakley and
broadcaster Liz Walker — receives the Lena Park Community Devel-
opment Corporation's Hecht-Shaw award for contributions to Boston.

President Curry institutes a smoking ban on campus.

The Warren Center in Ashland is converted from solely a recreation
center to a major conference center.

Northeastern begins the first phase of its computer networking
project, aimed at creating the so-called connected campus.

In December, Mayor Raymond Flynn names Northeastern the "best
non-profit institufion" in Boston.

President Curry is named to a three-year term on the board of
directors of the National Association of Independent Colleges and
Universities.

By December, honors students enrolled at Northeastern number more
than 1,200, up from 400 in 1989.

Trustee George Behrakis provides $1 million for an endowed chair in
the Bouve College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences.

274

NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY CHRONOLOGY, 1989-1996

1992-93 In January, the administration announces that 626 positions have been
(cont.) eliminated from the budget since late 1990.

The university modernizes 31 computer labs.

President Curry — along Mdth MIT president Charles Vest and Har-
vard president Neil Rudenstine — is elected to the Massachusetts
Business Roundtable.

In a winter referendum, students approve raising their $12.50 quar-
terly student center fee to $50 to help pay for a renovated center.

In March, President Curry receives the American Jewish Committee's
Institute of Human Relations Award for his humanitarian work.

In April, senior vice president Robert Culver announces that, in real
dollars, the 1994 projected budget is 20 percent lower than the 1990
budget.

The lobby of Richards Hall is upgraded to provide an improved
entryway to the admissions office.

In May, President Curry is elected chair of the Yankee Conference
presidents.

Assistant engineering dean David Blackman wins more than $5 mil-
lion from the National Science Foundation to assist 4,000 minority
students in the Boston schools in math education.

President Clinton, through his National Service Program, awards
$1 million to City Year and its educational partner, Northeastern.

Larry Finkelstein is named interim dean of the College of Computer
Science.

Enrollment officials report that inquiries for the freshman class im-
proved from 14,000 to 69,000 in one year.

In May, Northeastern's endowment stands at $211 million, represent-
ing growth of 39 percent since 1989.

The College of Criminal Justice and the African-American Institute
both celebrate silver anniversaries.

In May, the National Association of College and University Business
Officers gives its annual "rightsizing" award to Northeastern.

275

NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY CHRONOLOGY, 1989-1996

1992-93 In June, the NBC News show Nightline features a segment on North-
(cont.) eastern and cooperative education.

The trustees approve a $17 miUion student center renovation.

In June, Katherine Pendergast is named vice president for human
resources management.

The university decides to provide same-sex health benefits for the
partners of its faculty and staff.

President Clinton is Northeastem's commencement speaker, address-
ing a packed house at the Boston Garden and prompting national
media focus on the university.

1993-94 At President Clinton's invitation. President Curry student commence-
ment speaker Douglas Luffborough, and Luffborough's mother visit
the White House.

In August, President Curry meets in Dublin with Irish president Mary
Robinson and is elected deputy president of the World Association for
Cooperative Education.

Reggie Lewis, Husky hoop star and Boston Celtic captain, dies; his fu-
neral at Northeastem's Matthews Arena draws huge crowds.

Fiscal year 1993 ends with a surplus of $993,000; the endowment
stands at $223 million in September.

Three renovated facilities open: Dodge Hall, the university bookstore,
and the student center food court.

Average SAT scores of entering freshmen rise to 996, up 50 points
over a two-year period; retention is up 5 percent among upper-
classmen.

A statue of Cy Young, a gift from the Red Sox and the Yawkey
Foundation, is placed outside Churchill Hall on the site of the first
World Series in 1903.

Governor William Weld speaks at the 30th anniversary of the Center
for Continuing Education; he also appoints President Curry to the
board of directors of the Massachusetts Educational Financing
Agency.

276

NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY CHRONOLOGY, 1989-1996

1993-94 In October, a student residence at 157-163 Hemenway Street is
(cont.) dedicated in memory of Kenneth Loftman, longtime member of the

Board of Trustees.

The Robinson quadrangle is landscaped.

Provost Baer announces the completion of a new strategic plan for
academics.

President Curry is invited to the White House Rose Garden for Presi-
dent Clinton's National Service Program announcement. EH Segal,
head of the program, praises Curry for being the first university presi-
dent to support the program's concept.

Students plan for the renovation of the upper floors of the student
center.

President Curry names the Distinguished University Professors
for trustee chair George Matthews and his wife, Kathleen Waters
Matthews, major benefactors for the program.

In fall 1993, alumni annual giving increases to $2 million a year, from
astartof$5,000inl943.

The "Flame of Hope," Northeastem's first outdoor sculpture —
donated by Stanley Young — is placed at the corner of Huntington
Avenue and Forsyth Street.

The trustees approve plans for a new $12 million recreation
center at the comer of Huntington Avenue and Forsyth Street, the
first recreation building on campus since the Cabot Center, built
in 1954.

Project Vote Smart, a national election monitoring group, moves to
Northeastern, offering opportunities for 150 interns to become in-
volved in election processes.

Northeastem's student chapter of the American Society of Civil Engi-
neers, known for its community service projects, wins the Society's
Ridgway Award for the ninth time for being the most outstanding
group of its kind in the country.

University College opens an emergency medical services institute in
Ireland.

277

NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY CHRONOLOGY, 1989-1996

1993-94 Northeastern's physician assistant program signs a five-year agree-
(cont.) ment with the Tufts School of Medicine to perform community-based

teaching programs.

The Faculty Senate approves the new academic strategic plan. A short
time later, the plan is approved by the entire faculty and later by the
trustees. The plan's themes revolve around the idea of the "connected
campus" — an enhanced intellectual community, a student-centered
campus, and a culturally diverse university.

Northeastern affiliates with Hebrew College, allowing students to take
courses there.

By December, Northeastern has eliminated nearly 700 positions since
late 1990; excluding financial aid, debt service, salary pools, and buy-
outs, the projected operating budget for 1995 will be 7 percent lower
than the 1990 budget.

In March, Irish president Mary Robinson receives an honorary degree
from Northeastern.

The trustees approve an operating budget of $241 million for
1994-95.

In the spring, Northeastern's increased selectivity prompts Moody's to
rate the university A; Standard & Poor's rates it A/A — .

National Jurist magazine rates Northeastern the top school in the
country for public interest law.

P. J. Patterson, prime minister of Jamaica, is awarded a Northeastern
honorary degree in May.

Outstanding trustee benefactor George Snell, who provided naming
gifts both for Snell Library and Snell Engineering Center, provides an-
other $300,000 to enhance endowed professorships in engineering
and health sciences.

President Curry receives an honorary degree from Hebrew College
and is elected to Northeastern's athletics Hall of Fame.

After serving Northeastern for more than 33 years, Eugene Reppucci,
Jr., senior vice president for development, announces in March that he
will retire the following December.

278

NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY CHRONOLOGY, 1989-1996

1993 _ 94 In April, the prestigious Carnegie Foundation upgrades Northeastern
(cont.) from its designation as a Doctoral II institution to a Research II insti-

tution, an upgrade of two levels, putting the university in a category
shared by only 70 other U.S. universities.

Larry Finkelstein is named dean of the College of Computer Science.

President Curry travels to Indonesia and Malaysia to help these coun-
tries introduce cooperative education at their universities.

The renovated Dodge Hall is dedicated in May. Trustee Richard
Ockerbloom, president of the Boston Globe, led the successful drive
to raise $4.6 million toward the $12 million cost of the renova-
tion, which provided a new home for the College of Business
Administration.

Student affairs vice president Karen Rigg introduces a longer summer
orientation program for freshmen aimed at strengthening their con-
nection to the university.

Northeastern completes the first phase of its plan to wire the campus
for the Internet and begins the second phase.

Northeastern's alumni magazine wins a top award from the Council
for the Advancement and Support of Education, along wdth Notre
Dame, Duke, and Rice universities.

In May, trustee Richard Egan provides the single largest gift in the
university's history— $6.7 million— to name the new engineering/
science research center.

In a speech to the university corporation on May 24, President Curry
announces that four heads of state visited Northeastern in 1993-94;
SAT scores are up more than 70 points since 1989 to an average of
1005; and honors students number 1,380, up from 300 in 1989.

Development vice president Royal Toebes dies in June.

Ira Weiss is named dean of the College of Business Administration.

Trustee Harvey "Chet" Krentzman provides $700,000 to fund land-
scaping at Northeastern; the university names its Huntington Avenue
quadrangle in his honor.

Northeastern breaks ground for a new classroom building, the center-
piece of the university's expansion toward the west side of campus.

279

NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY CHRONOLOGY, 1989-1996

1994-95 In August, President Curry is elected president of the World Asso-
ciation for Cooperative Education at its meeting in Auckland, New
Zealand.

Fiscal year 1994 ends with $16.8 million in fundraising pledges,
making it the second best fundraising year in the university's history;
the university's operating budget shows a surplus of m.ore than
$800,000.

Northeastern enters its fifth and final year of smaller classes replacing
larger classes; there are now 10,600 undergraduates in school, down
from 15,200 in 1989-90.

In September, the university installs five computer kiosks across cam-
pus, allowdng students easy access to information about schedules, ad-
vising, and grades.

The university opens a new downtown campus at 89 Broad Street.

A new International Student Center opens in the Ell Building.

An October Wall Street Journal article features Northeastern as a uni-
versity remaking itself.

Undergraduate enrollments remain stable but increased competition
causes graduate school and University College enrollments to drop,
creating a $3.5 million budget problem.

Ground is broken for the Maureen and Richard J. Egan Engineering/
Science Research Center in October.

Northeastern holds a public kickoff for its Centennial Campaign in
November at the Copley Plaza hotel.

Muhammad Ali is presented an honorary degree at the Center for the
Study of Sport in Society banquet.

In December, senior vice president for development Eugene Rep-
pucci, Jr., retires after 33 years of service to the university

The Pew Foundation selects Northeastern as one of 30 universities
to host the prestigious Pew Roundtable on campus, due largely to the
university's strategic planning effort.

The trustees approve a new three-year contract for provost Baer fol-
lowing a favorable evaluation.

280

NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY CHRONOLOGY, 1989-1996

1994-95 Implementation of the academic strategic plan begins. Themes in-
(cont.) elude forming a more student-centered learning environment, fo-

cusing on quality, improving infrastructure to support academics,
strengthening community outreach and involvement, and better
integrating co-op and academics.

U.S. Secretary of Labor Robert Reich delivers the keynote address
at the November celebration of the Master of Public Administration
program's 25th anniversary.

Richard Meyer is named senior vice president for development in
December; Robert Vozzella becomes vice president for cooperative
education.

To adjust for a $3.5 million expected budget problem, academic and
administrative budgets are reduced an average of 2.6 percent.

Northeastern announces an honors scholarship program for Boston
high school graduates in the top 5 percent of their class and need-
based scholarships for those with B averages.

The Fenway cultural district is enhanced by the addition of greenery
on a traffic island outside the Boston YMCA.

The trustees approve a $7 million bond to complete the job of wiring
all campus buildings to give every faculty member, student, and ad-
ministrator computer connections to the rest of the university and the
world beyond.

With an improved campus environment, residence halls report
97 percent occupancy

President Curry is among a small number of college and university
leaders to meet with House Speaker Newt Gingrich to stress the im-
portance of federal financial aid for students.

In January, Boston Mayor Thomas Menino delivers his "State of the
City" address at Northeastern.

A committee chaired by history professor William Fowler begins to
evaluate Northeastern's athletics department for compliance with
NCAA academic and fiscal integrity standards.

In March, the trustees approve a fiscal year 1996 budget of $252
million.

281

NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY CHRONOLOGY, 1989-1996

1994-95 President Curry announces that $5 million has been cut from the
(cont.) fiscal year 1995 budget to cover a projected shortfall.

Northeastern receives a $2 million equipment grant for the Egan
Center from the National Science Foundation.

The W. K. Kellogg Foundation provides $2.6 million to the College of
Nursing for its community health education program and $1 million
more for the college's involvement wdth the "Boston Rises to Help Its
Poor" program.

In the spring, Ryder Hall is refurbished with 29 classrooms and a new
student commons; redesign of 716 Columbus Avenue is completed
and several hundred administrators move in, establishing a North-
eastern presence in Roxbury for the first time.

In April, ground is broken for Northeastem's new recreation center,
funded by a multimillion-dollar grant from alumnus Roger Marino
and his wife, Michelle.

The Faculty Senate approves the awarding of "experiential learning"
credit for co-op on student transcripts.

In May, Northeastern implements the "Academic Common Experi-
ence" as the core learning model for undergraduates.

Trustee chair George Matthews and President Curry write an article
for the May/June issue of Trusteeship about making Northeastern
"smaller but better."

President Curry appoints a blue-ribbon commission, headed by
attorney and Boston Coalition head John Driscoll, to investigate the
integrity of Northeastem's athletics programs and allegations of
Reggie Lewis's drug use in the 1980s.

U.S. News e[ World Report names the College of Criminal Justice one of
four leading criminal justice programs in the country.

The College of Engineering merges its mechanical and industrial en-
gineering programs.

The College of Business Administration begins offering a joint
MBA-health management program in conjunction with Tufts Medi-
cal School and Brandeis University.

282

NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY CHRONOLOGY, 1989-1996

1994-95 Law students are passing the Bar at a rate of 93.7 percent, second high-
(cont.) est among Massachusetts law programs; the law school opens a new

Urban Law and Public Policy Institute.

Boston University honors President Curry v^th its Alumni Award.

Massachusetts governor William Weld delivers the keynote address at
Northeastem's June commencement.

Offices of the World Association for Cooperative Education move from
Canada's Mohawk College to Northeastern.

1995-96 In August, President Curry presides at the World Conference on
Cooperative Education in Kingston, Jamaica.

Fiscal year 1995 ends with a surplus of $18,000; the endowment
stands at $253 million as of September; and total university assets
have increased by $21 million since fall 1994. In addition, the year saw
$2 million spent on faculty buyouts.

Average freshman SAT scores rise 13 points to 1004. Bouve College's
freshman scores have risen 100 points since 1992. The Alternative
Ereshman Year developmental program now enrolls 13 percent of
freshmen, dov^ni from 25 percent at its peak.

The new classroom building opens.

Total pledges of $20 million make 1994-95 the best fundraising year
in Northeastem's history.

Northeastem's Disability Resource Center now serves 555 students,
up from 100 served in 1988.

As of the beginning of fall quarter, 98 percent of co-op students are
employed.

Trustee John Lowell provides $1.1 million to move the Lowell Insti-
tute, an evening technical program, from MIT to Northeastern.

The Center for the Study of Sport in Society receives a $1 million grant
from President Clinton's AmeriCorps program to support national
expansion for Project Teamwork, aimed at training youth in conflict
resolution.

Astronaut alumnus Albert Sacco, Jr., carries the Northeastern Univer-
sity flag on the space shuttle.

283

NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY CHRONOLOGY, 1989-1996

1995-96 Boston Mayor Thomas Menino provides $4 million for improvements
(cont.) to the Fenv^ay cultural district along Huntington Avenue.

Senior vice president Robert Culver begins negotiations to purchase
an office building and land tracts near the university on a site known
as Parcel 18.

Key trustee benefactor George Snell provides $300,000 to upgrade
Northeastem's library archives.

Resurfacing of the ice at Matthews Arena creates one of the best skat-
ing surfaces in Boston.

Although freshman enrollment goals are met, lower-than-anticipated
enrollments in the upper classes and in continuing education cause a
$3 million budget problem.

The American Council on Education chooses President Curry to be
a university spokesman on federal financial aid in radio broadcasts
reaching 900 stations nationally.

The law school receives a $1.6 million Department of Education grant
to support its urban legal education work.

In November, Jean Eddy is named vice provost for enrollment
management.

The strategic planning implementation process continues with FIPSE
(Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education) providing fi-
nancial support to Northeastern for its Academic Common Experi-
ence initiative.

The American Council on Education selects Northeastern as one of six
universities ahead of the curve in transforming their institutions.

Barron's names Northeastern an outstanding institution.

The College of Engineering combines its mechanical and industrial
engineering departments into a new department of mechanical, in-
dustrial, and manufacturing engineering.

Northeastem's Excellence in Teaching awards are named for beloved
mechanical engineering professor Alfred Ferretti in December; in
February, the university celebrates Ferretti 's 100th birthday.

In December, the Wall Street Journal profiles law dean David Hall and
describes the school's emphasis on public interest law.

284

NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY CHRONOLOGY, 1989-1996

1995-96 A Graduate Student Association is formed at Northeastern University.

(cont.)

A new Latino Student Center opens on Forsyth Street.

In January, faculty members say they are wilUng to give up raises for
1996-97, provided the university continues investments in technol-
ogy and buyouts.

In February, the Boston Coalition provides $50,000 for Northeastern
to take a leadership role in alcohol education programming.

The trustees approve a 1996-97 budget of $259 million.

President Curry forms a restructuring committee of faculty, adminis-
trators, staff, and students to make recommendations concerning on-
going structural imbalances in the university's budget.

In March, senior vice president Robert Culver announces that, in real
dollars, university operating expenses have been reduced by 26.4 per-
cent since 1990.

The trustees authorize borrowing from the endowonent fund to fi-
nance additional faculty buyouts and technology improvements.

The Krentzman Quadrangle is dedicated in May.

The Centennial Campaign, with a goal of $225 million, has $175 mil-
lion in hand; gifts have come in from more than 20,000, or 21 percent,
of alumni.

As of March, the endowment stands at $273 million, in the top 90
among universities and up 100 percent since 1989.

The Princeton Review names the law school best in the nation in terms
of quality of life for faculty and students.

The university introduces the idea of a parking garage on Parcel 18
and additional housing units on Columbus Avenue.

At June commencement, the Board of Trustees awards an honorary
degree to President Curry.

Fall 1996 As President Curry steps down in September, $191.3 million toward
the $225 million Centennial Campaign is reached; of the total,
$92.5 million has been raised to support academic programs.

Freshman enrollments again exceed goals, as 2,975 new students reg-
ister, with enrollments higher than expected in every college.

285

NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY CHRONOLOGY, 1989-1996

Fall 1996 The restructuring committee, which has examined Northeastem's
(cont.) budget for several months, presents a plan to Curry and incoming

President Richard Freeland suggesting a $9 million cut in the operat-
ing budget and various methods to increase revenue by $6 million.

President Curry's final budget (1995-96) is balanced with a surplus of
$93,000; the endowment stands at $286 million.

286

NEW ACADEMIC PROGRAMS

1989-1996

Program/degree

1990 M.S. in Nursing

B.A./B.S. in Environmental
Geology

Ph.D. in English

B.S. in Education -dual major

B.S. in Biochemistry

College

Nursing

Arts and Sciences

Arts and Sciences
Arts and Sciences
Arts and Sciences

1991 B.S. in Music

Ed.D in Psychology Counseling
(School Counseling)

B.S. in American Sign Language-
English Interpreting

Arts and Sciences

Boston-Bouve College
of Human Development
Professions

Arts and Sciences

1992 M.S.inAccounting/M.B.A.

M.S. in Taxation
B.S. in Biological Science

Business Administration
Business Administration
University College

287

NEW ACADEMIC PROGRAMS, 1989-1996

1993 B.S. in International Business

M.S. in Education/
Special Education

M.S. in Applied Educational
Psychology

Pharm.D.

B.A. in Computer Science
(retroactive to 1989)

B.S. in Human Services

M.S. in Finance

Ph.D. in History

Business Administration

Bouve College of Pharmacy
and Health Sciences

Computer Science

Arts and Sciences
Business Administration
Arts and Sciences

1994 M.S. in Cardiopulmonary Sciences

(Perfusion Technology)

M.S. in Operations Management

B.S. in Behavioral Neuroscience
M.A.T. Master of Arts in Teaching

Bouve College of Pharmacy
and Health Sciences

Engineering/
Arts and Sciences

Arts and Sciences

1995

M.S. in Physical Therapy

Bouve College of Pharmacy
and Health Sciences

1996 Ph.D. in Public and

International Affairs

M.S. /M. B.A. Interdisciplinary
Nursing and Business
Administration program

B.A. in International Politics,
Culture, and Trade

Arts and Sciences

Nursing/ Business
Administration

University College

288

PROFESSORSHIPS AND CHAIRS
THROUGH 1996

1996 Lipman Family Professorship in Criminal Justice

1995 Raymond Bradstreet Chair in Analytical Chemistry

1994 William F. Allen, Jr. /Stone and Webster Distinguished Professorship

1993 George J. and Kathleen Waters Matthews Distinguished

Professorship Program

1992 George D. Behrakis Professorship in Pharmacy

1991 Bernard A. Stotsky Professorship in Jewish Historical and

Cultural Studies

1991 Thomas P. O'Neill, Jr., Professorship

1990 Stanton W. and Elizabeth K. Davis Distinguished Professorship

in American Literature

1989 Camp Dresser & McKee, Inc., Professorship in Civil Engineering

1988 International Test Conference Professorship in Electrical and

Computer Engineering

1988 Philip R. McDonald Professorship in Business Administration

1987 William O. DePietro Professorship in Chemical Engineering

1984 James L. Waters Chair in Analytical Chemistry

1983 Avram J. and Carol R. Goldberg Professorship

1982 Joseph G. Riesman Professorship in Business Administration

289

PROFESSORSHIPS AND CHAIRS THROUGH 1996

1981 William Lincoln Smith Chair in Engineering

1981 Cabot Corporation Professorship in Chemical Engineering

1981 Robert D. Black Professorship in Engineering

1981 Patrick F. and Helen C. Walsh Research Professorship in Business
Administration

1981 Analog Devices Career Development Professorship in Electrical and
Computer Engineering

1980 Joseph M. Golemme Professorship in Accounting

1980 Frank L. and Bertha J. Richardson Professorship in Law

1980 Eleanor W. Black Professorship in AlHed Health

1975 Edward W Brooke Professorship in Political Science

1972 George A. Snell Professorship in Engineering

1972 Lorraine C. Snell Professorship in Health Care

1972 Lillian L. and Harry A. Cowan Research Chair in Accounting

1971 Harold A. Mock Professorship in Accounting

1969 Donald W Smith Professorship in Mechanical Engineering

1968 Edwin W. Hadley Professorship in Law

1967 Robert G. Stone Professorship in Mathematics

1967 Asa S. Knowles Chair in Cooperative Education

290

FACULTY AND STUDENT LEADERS

1989-1996

Faculty Senate Agenda Committee Chairs

Wesley Marple, Jr. 1989-90

Wesley Marple, Jr. 1990-91

Richard Daynard 1991-92

Stuart Peterfreund 1992-93

Sharon McKinnon 1993-94

Arvin Grabel 1994-95

Arvin Grabel 1995-96

Student Government Association Presidents

Deborah Edwards 1989-90

Sandra Major 1990-91

James Patterson 1991-92

Kathryn Zeidler 1992-93

Joseph Dias 1993-94

Daniel Bernal 1994-95

Christopher Schoeneberger 1995-96

291

MEMBERS OF THE GOVERNING BOARDS

1989-1996

Abrams, Julius, Chairman of the Board (retired), Abrams Construction Group.
Member of the Corporation, 1960-96.

Albertini, Richard A., Regional Director, Suffolk Construction Co., Inc. Mem-
ber of the Corporation, 1990-91.

Allen, William R, Jr., Chairman & CEO, Stone & Webster, Inc.; Chairman, Stone
& Webster, Inc.; Chairman (retired), Stone & Webster, Inc. Member of the Corpo-
ration, 1975-; Board ofTrustees, 1983-92; Lifetime Trustee Emeritus, 1992 -; Vice
Chair, 1990-92; Vice Chair Emeritus, 1992 -.

Anastos, Ernie, News Anchor and Host, CBS-TV; Owner, Talk Show Host, New
Mass Media, WTZA-TV; Host, Our Home Life Television, Hearst Entertainment;
Host, Our Home, Lifetime TV, ABC/ Hearst. Member of the Corporation, 1991 -.

Arthur, Jacqueline D., Senior Vice President for Strategic Planning and Corpo-
rate Development, Dennison Manufacturing Co.; Vice President for Finance,
M/A-COM. Member of the Corporation, 1990-92.

As'ad, Yousef a.. General Manager, Dar Engineering Works and Contracting In-
ternational Co.; President, Dar Engineering Works and Contracting International
Co. Member of the Corporation, 1982-; Board of Overseers, 1995-.

Auger, Diana, Senior Trade Affairs Consultant, Syntex (U.S.A.) Inc.; Senior Trade
Affairs Consultant (retired), Syntex (U.S.A.) Inc.; Attorney at Law. Member of the
Corporation, 1971-; Board ofTrustees, 1972; Honorary Trustee, 1979-88; Life-
time Trustee Emerita, 1988 -.

Awkward, Robert J., Senior Human Resources Manager, Wang Laboratories, Inc.;
Senior Human Resources Manager, Arthur D. Little, Inc.; Director for Human Re-
sources, Abt Associates, Inc. Member of the Corporation, 1989 -.

293

MEMBERS OF THE GOVERNING BOARDS, 1989-1996

Baldwin, George R., President and CEO, Kaler Carney Liffler & Co., Inc.; Area
Chairman, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Member of the Corporation, 1990 -.

Ballou, Kenneth W., Senior Operations Manager, Ryder Systems; President (re-
tired), Wellesley Motor Coach Co. Member of the Corporation, 1986 -; Board of
Overseers, 1990 -.

Barletta, Vincent, President, The Barletta Co., Inc. Member of the Corporation,
1978 -; Board of Trustees, 1978 -.

Barnett, Louis H., Founder and CEO (retired), Loma Plastics; Ownier- President,
Louis Barnett Investment. Member of the Corporation, 1984-; Board of Overseers,
1986-91.

Bates, Charles L., Jr., Chairman Emeritus, Valtek Inc. Member of the Corpora-
tion, 1991-94.

Bateson, Lincoln C, Vice-President for Business (retired). Northeastern Univer-
sity. Member of the Corporation, 1959-96; Board of Trustees, 1959-74; Lifetime
Trustee Emeritus, 1992-96.

Batson, Ruth M., Founder and Treasurer, The Ruth M. Batson Educational Foun-
dation. Member of the Corporation, 1991 -.

Beaton, Roy H., Senior Vice-President and Group Executive (retired). General
Electric Co. Member of the Corporation, 1970-; Board of Trustees, 1971-84; Life-
time Trustee Emeritus, 1984-.

Behrakis, George D., President and CEO, Muro Pharmaceutical, Inc. Member of
the Corporation, 1989-; Board of Overseers, 1990-91; Board of Trustees, 1991-.

Bell, Alan D., President, Bell Associates, Inc. Member of the Corporation,
1986-98.

Bemis, F. Gregg, Bemis Brothers Bag Co. (retired). Member of the Corporation,
1937-95; Board of Trustees, 1939-79; Lifetime Trustee Emeritus, 1979-95.

Berman, Barry, Chairman and CEO (retired), Bradlees, Inc. Member of the Cor-
poration, 1993-97.

Bertocchi, Alfred M., Senior Vice President for Finance (retired), Digital Equip-
ment Corp. Member of the Corporation, 1977-93.

Black, Scott M., Chairman and President, Delphi Management, Inc. Member of
the Corporation, 1988 -; Board of Overseers, 1989 -.

294

MEMBERS OF THE GOVERNING BOARDS, 1989-1996

Bloch, Stuart Marshall, Partner, IngersoU and Bloch. Member of the Corpora-
tion, 1983-; Board of Overseers, 1986-93.

Rodman, Samuel W. Ill, Chairman and President, Cabot Corp.; Chairman and
CEO, Cabot Corp. Member of the Corporation, 1992 -.

BoTSFORD, Margot, Associate Justice, Massachusetts Superior Court. Member of
the Corporation, 1996 -.

Bradley, S. Whitney, Senior Vice President (retired), Eaton- Vance, Inc. Member
of the Corporation, 1960-92.

Bradshaw, Melvin B., Chairman of the Board (retired), Liberty Mutual Insurance
Companies. Member of the Corporation, 1977-91.

Bready, Richard L., President and COO, Nortek, Inc.; Chairman, CEO and Presi-
dent, Nortek, Inc. Member of the Corporation, 1989 -; Board of Overseers, 1990 -.

Breitman, Leo R., Chairman and CEO, Fleet Bank of Massachusetts. Member of
the Corporation, 1993 -.

Brodsky, Frederick, President, International Investment Advisors; President-
Ovmer, Fred Brodsky Co. Member of the Corporation, 1986 -; Board of Overseers,
1988 -.

Brooks, Robert A., Chairman and CEO, Brooks Telecommunications Corp.;
Chairman of the Board, Brooks Fiber Properties, Inc. Member of the Corporation,
1992 -.

Brown, Frederick L., Associate Justice, Massachusetts Appeals Court. Member
of the Corporation, 1976 -; Board of Trustees, 1977-.

Brown, Michael A., Partner, Grayer, Brown and Dilday. Member of the Corpora-
tion, 1986-91.

Brown, William L., Chairman of the Board (retired). Bank of Boston. Member of
the Corporation, 1971-; Board of Overseers, 1986-94.

Bruhmuller, Richard D., Partner, Tobin & Waldstein; Certified Public Accoun-
tant, Walter & Shuffain, RC. Member of the Corporation, 1995 -.

Buckley, John E., Executive Vice President, A.T Cross Co.; Executive Vice Presi-
dent and COO, A.T. Cross Co. Member of the Corporation, 1991-; Board of Over-
seers, 1994-.

295

MEMBERS OF THE GOVERNING BOARDS, 1989-1996

BuDD, Wayne A., United States Attorney, District of Massachusetts; Associate At-
torney General, United States Department of Justice; Partner, Goodwin, Procter &
Hoar; Senior Vice President, NYNEX. Member of the Corporation, 1985-.

BuMPUs, Frederick J., President and CEO, Arkwright Mutual Insurance Co.;
Chairman of the Board and CEO, Arkwright Mutual Insurance Co.; Chairman of
the Board, Arkwright Mutual Insurance Co. Member of the Corporation, 1991-95.

Burke, Richard L., Vice President for Manufacturing, General Electric Co.; Vice
President for Purchasing, Technology and Manufacturing, General Electric Co.
Member of the Corporation, 1991-95.

BuRNES, NoNNiE S., Member of the Firm, Hill & Barlow, PC; Associate Justice,
Massachusetts Superior Court. Member of the Corporation, 1994-.

Burns, John L., President (retired), Radio Corporation of America. Member of the
Corporation, 1957-96.

Burton, Ron, Executive Consultant, John Hancock Financial Services. Member
of the Corporation, 1992 -; Board of Overseers, 1994-.

Bynoe, Victor C, Attorney at Law. Member of the Corporation, 1969-94.

Cabot, Louis W., Director, Cabot Corp.; Director Emeritus, Cabot Corp.; Cabot-
Wellington, LLC; Chairman, Cabot- Wellington, LLC. Member of the Corporation,
1953-; Board of Trustees, 1954-94; Lifetime Trustee Emeritus, 1994-.

Cahners, Robert M., President, The Cahners Companies, Inc.; President and
Publisher, The Hanover Report, Inc.; President, The Hanover Group, Inc. Mem-
ber of the Corporation, 1992 -.

Cahners-Kaplan, Helene R., Trustee. Member of the Corporation, 1986-; Board
of Trustees, 1986-93; Lifetime Trustee Emerita, 1993-.

Gail, Milton L. Mickey, President, Gail Realty and Investments. Member of the
Corporation, 1987-; Board of Overseers, 1991-94.

Cameron, Peter B., President and CEO, Farberware Inc.; Vice Chairman, Acuity
Management. Member of the Corporation, 1992 -; Board of Overseers, 1996 -.

Cargill, Thomas E., Jr., Senior Partner, Cargill Associates (retired). Member of
the Corporation, 1975 -; Board of Trustees, 1977-90; Lifetime Trustee Emeritus,
1990 -; Vice Chair, 1988-90; Vice Chair Emeritus, 1990 -.

Carlin, James F., Chairman, CarUn Consolidated, Inc. Member of the Corpora-
tion, 1983-93.

296

MEMBERS OF THE GOVERNING BOARDS, 1989-1996

Casey, William P., Executive Vice President for Bottler Operations, Coca-Cola
USA; President and CEO, Coca-Cola Beverages LTD. Member of the Corporation,
1991-.

Cetrulo, Lawrence C, Partner, Burns & Levinson; Partner, Peabody & Arnold;
Partner, Cetrulo & Capone. Member of the Corporation, 1990 -; Board of Over-
seers, 1993 -.

Chamillard, George W., Vice President and General Manager, Teradyne-
Connections Systems Division; Executive Vice President, Teradyne, Inc.; President
and COO, Teradyne, Inc. Member of the Corporation, 1991-.

Chapman, Richard P., Jr., President, Brookline Savings Bank. Member of the
Corporation, 1977-; Board of Overseers, 1986-91; Board of Trustees, 1991-.

Chevalier, Samuel F., Vice Chairman, The Bank of New York; Vice Chairman and
Director, The Bank of New York. Member of the Corporation, 1994-.

Chrusz, Philip M., Senior Vice President, Finance and Administration, Ames
Department Stores, Inc.; President and COO, Wickes Lumber Co.; President,
Chrusz and Squires Associates, Inc.; President, China Source - Copia Co.; Presi-
dent, DC Trading Co., Inc. Member of the Corporation, 1986 -; Board of Overseers,
1989 -.

Chryssis, George C, President and Founder, Intelco Corp.; President, G & M En-
terprises, Inc.; Past President and Founder, Intelco and G & M Enterprises, Inc.;
Real Estate Investor; Executive Vice President and COO, NPC Capital Corp. Mem-
ber of the Corporation, 1990 -; Board of Overseers, 1995 -.

Clayson, Roberta., Associate Director, Bear, Steams & Co., Inc.; Managing Di-
rector, Bear, Steams & Co., Inc. Member of the Corporation, 1982 -; Board of Over-
seers, 1990 -.

Coakley, Livingston N., Minister of Labor, Youth, Sports, and Community Af-
fairs, Bahamas. Member of the Corporation, 1977-.

CoFiELD, James E., Jr., President, Cofield Properties Inc. Member of the Corpora-
tion, 1986-91.

Coles, Bruce C, President, Stone & Webster, Inc.; President and Director, Stone
& Webster, Inc.; President, CEO and Director, Stone & Webster, Inc. Member of
the Corporation, 1992-95; Board of Overseers, 1993-95; Board of Trustees, 1995.

Collier, Abram T, Chairman of the Board (retired). The New England. Member
of the Corporation, 1968-93.

297

MEMBERS OF THE GOVERNING BOARDS, 1989-1996

Cone, Carol L., President, Cone Communications, Inc. Member of the Corpora-
tion , 1989 - 9 1 ; Board of Overseers ,1990-91.

Connolly, T. Paul, Executive Vice President (retired), Spaulding Co., Inc. Mem-
ber of the Corporation, 1979-93; Board of Overseers, 1986-93.

Connolly, Walter J., Jr., Chairman, Bank of New England Corp.; Chairman (re-
tired). Bank of New England Corp. Member of the Corporation, 1988-94.

Cook, William E., President, Signal Technology Corp. Member of the Corpora-
tion, 1986-91.

CooLEY, Dorothy C, Corporate Vice President for Human Resources (retired),
Dynatech Corp. Member of the Corporation, 1990-.

CooLiDGE, T. Jefferson, Jr., President, Coolidge Investment Corp. Member of the
Corporation, 1990-91.

Coppersmith, S. James, President and General Manager, WCVB-TV (retired).
Member of the Corporation, 1990 -; Board of Overseers, 1991-96.

CosTELLO, James J., Vice President and Comptroller, General Electric Co.; Vice
President and Comptroller (retired). General Electric Co. Member of the Corpora-
tion, 1981 -.

Cotter, William J., Vice President-Sales, Kidder, Peabody Co., Inc.; Vice Presi-
dent, Paine Webber, Inc.; Senior Vice President, Paine Webber, Inc. Member of the
Corporation, 1989-; Board of Overseers, 1990-95; Board of Trustees, 1995-.

Countryman, Gary L., Chairman, President and CEO, Liberty Mutual Insurance
Group; Chairman and CEO, Liberty Mutual Insurance Group. Member of the Cor-
poration, 1984-; Board of Trustees, 1986-.

Creiger, Edward, Chairman of the Board (retired), Foster Grant Co., Inc. Mem-
ber of the Corporation, 1971-93.

Cronin, Joseph J., President and CEO, Saatchi & Saatchi DFS/Pacific. Member of
the Corporation, 1993 -.

Cronin, Michael J., Chairman, President and CEO, Automatix, Inc.; Chairman,
President and CEO, Automatix, Inc., and Cognition Corp.; Chairman and CEO,
Cognition Corp. Member of the Corporation, 1984-; Board of Overseers, 1986-
88; Board of Trustees, 1988-.

Crossan, H. James, Jr., President and Director, Vice Chairman (retired), Loomis,
Sayles & Co., Inc. Member of the Corporation, 1972-93.

298

MEMBERS OF THE GOVERNING BOARDS, 1989-1996

CuLLiNANE, John J., Chairman of the Board and CEO, CuUinet Software, Inc.;
Constiltant; President, The CuUinane Group, Inc. Member of the Corporation,
1982 -; Board of Trustees, 1983-90.

Curry, John A., President, Northeastern University. Member of the Corporation,
1989 -.

CuRVEY, James C, Senior Vice President and Managing Director, Fidelity Invest-
ments; President for FideHty Capital and Managing Director, Fidelity Investments;
President, Fidelity Capital. Member of the Corporation, 1986 -.

D'Orlando, Theodore S., Treasurer, John H. Baldwin Insurance Agency; Trea-
surer (retired), John H. Baldwin Insurance Agency. Member of the Corporation,
1990 -.

Daley, James A., President, Copley Plaza Hotel; Owner, The Boston Back Bay
Hilton. Member of the Corporation, 1989 -; Board of Overseers, 1990 -.

Daniels, Harry T, Senior Partner, Hale and Dorr. Member of the Corporation,
1986-; Board of Overseers, 1989-94; Board of Trustees, 1994-.

Dantas, Carl E., President and CEO (retired), Compugraphic Corp. Member of
the Corporation, 1984-; Board of Overseers, 1986-96.

Davis, J. H. Dow, Vice President, Bank of Boston; Director for Individual Gifts,
Charitable Gift Fund, Fidelity Investments. Member of the Corporation, 1982-93.

Dean, Dr. Melanie C, President, Inter-Tech Consulting Services, Inc. Member of
the Corporation, 1973 -; Board of Overseers, 1986-96.

DeVivo, Douglas G., General Partner, Vanguard Associates; General Partner,
Alee Partners, LP; Member, DeVivo Asset Management Co., L.L.C. Member of the
Corporation, 1990 -.

Di SciPio, Attilio Alfred, President, Cape Cod, Inc.; President, Creative Proper-
ties; Founder and Dean, Sir Isaac Newton School of Management. Member of the
Corporation, 1963 -.

DiPietro, William O., President, TEK Specialties, Inc. Member of the Corpora-
tion, 1965 -.

Dockser, Estelle, Member of the Corporation, 1969-93.

Douglas, Dr. Priscilla H., Secretary of Consumer Affairs, Commonwealth of
Massachusetts; Manager, Public Sector Market Value Team, Xerox, The Document
Co., Office Document Product Group. Member of the Corporation, 1994-.

299

MEMBERS OF THE GOVERNING BOARDS, 1989-1996

DowLiNG, Sarah T., Partner, Adler, Pollack & Sheehan, Inc. Member of the Cor-
poration, 1991 -.

Downey, William J., Treasurer, Hart Insurance Agency. Member of the Corpora-
tion, 1990 -.

Doyle, David R, Senior Vice President, Camp, Dresser & McKee, Inc.; President,
Environmental Management Division, Camp, Dresser & McKee, Inc. Member of
the Corporation, 1989 -.

Driver, William R., Jr., Partner, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.; Limited Part-
ner, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Member of the Corporation, 1964-; Board
of Trustees, 1964-81; Honorary Trustee, 1981-86; Lifetime Trustee Emeritus,
1987-; Vice Chair, 1977-81, Honorary Vice Chair, 1981-89, Vice Chair Emeritus,
1990-.

Drucker, C. Gerard, General Partner, The Atlantic Interests. Member of the
Corporation, 1992 -.

Edgerly, William S., Chairman, State Street Bank and Trust Co.; Chairman,
Foundation for Partnerships. Member of the Corporation, 1978 -.

Edlein, Sanford R., Managing Partner, Grant Thornton; COO, Sport Supply
Group Inc. Member of the Corporation, 1992-96.

Egan, Michael J., President, Carruth Capital Corp.; President, Egan Capital Corp.
Member of the Corporation, 1994-.

Egan, Richard J., Chairman and CEO, EMC Corp.; Chairman of the Board, EMC
Corp. Member of the Corporation, 1987-; Board of Overseers, 1992-94; Board of
Trustees, 1994 -.

Elfers, William, President and Chairman of the Executive Committee (retired),
Corporate Director, Greylock Management Corp. Member of the Corporation,
1979-; Board of Overseers, 1985-89; Board of Trustees, 1981-83; Lifetime
Trustee Emeritus, 1991 -.

Elliott, Byron K., President and Chairman (retired), John Hancock Mutual Life
Insurance Co. Member of the Corporation, 1954-96; Board of Trustees, 1955-72;
Treasurer, 1956-59; Chair, 1959-71; Honorary Chair, 1972-84; Chairman Emer-
itus, 1984-96; Lifetime Trustee Emeritus, 1984-96.

Farrell, Joseph C, Chairman and CEO, The Pittston Co. Member of the Corpo-
ration, 1995 -.

300

MEMBERS OF THE GOVERNING BOARDS, 1989-1996

Farrington, Thomas A., President and CEO, Input Output Computer Services.
Member of the Corporation, 1990-96.

Farris, Paul E., President, Hughes Corp. Member of the Corporation, 1996-.

Farwell, Frank L., Chairman of the Board (retired). Liberty Mutual Insurance
Companies. Member of the Corporation, 1956 -; Board of Trustees, 1958-87; Life-
time Trustee Emeritus, 1987-; Vice Chair, 1972-86; Honorary Vice Chair, 1987-
90; Vice Chair Emeritus, 1990 -.

Feaster, Joseph D., Jr., Acting Director of Real Estate, Massachusetts Turnpike
Authority; Executive Director, Massachusetts Community and Banking Council;
President, Massachusetts Community and Banking Council; President, Feaster
Enterprises; Administrator, Boston Housing Authority. Member of the Corpora-
tion, 1979-; Board of Overseers, 1987-.

Feier, Robert R., President and CEO, Mosaic Semiconductor; President and
CEO, FEIERTEK. Member of the Corporation, 1990-.

Felton, Ruth S., Trustee. Member of the Corporation, 1980-; Board of Trustees,
1981-.

Ferber, Mark S., Senior Vice President, Lazard Freres and Co.; General Partner,
Lazard Freres and Co. Member of the Corporation, 1989-93.

Ferris, Robert P., President, Ferris Co., Inc.; President, Ferris Real Estate. Mem-
ber of the Corporation, 199 1-.

Fetchero, James V, Senior Vice President for Finance (retired), Arkwright Mutual
Insurance Co. Member of the Corporation, 1972 -; Board of Trustees, 1974-87;
Honorary Trustee, 1987-93; Lifetime Trustee Emeritus, 1993-.

Fine, Phil David, Of Counsel, Fine and Ambrogne. Member of the Corporation,
1978-90.

FiNNEGAN, Neal F., Executive Vice President, Bankers Trust Co.; President and
CEO, UST Corp.; President and CEO, UST Corp. /USTrust. Member of the Cor-
poration, 1982 -; Board of Overseers, 1985-89; Board of Trustees, 1989 -.

Firth, Louise M., Vice President and Director, Arthur D. Little, Inc. Member of
the Corporation, 1992 -; Board of Overseers, 1995 -.

Fisher, Kenneth G., Chairman and CEO, Encore Computer Corp.; Chairman,
President and CEO, Encore Computer Corp. Member of the Corporation, 1983-
91; Board of Trustees, 1984-88; Honorary Trustee, 1988-91.

301

MEMBERS OF THE GOVERNING BOARDS, 1989-1996

Fitzgerald, W. Kevin, President, Fitz-Inn Auto Parks, Inc. Member of the Cor-
poration, 1992 -; Board of Overseers, 1995 -.

Frager, Albert S., Senior Vice President -Director (retired). The Stop and Shop
Companies, Inc. Member ofthe Corporation, 1980-; Board of Overseers, 1986-95.

Freeland, Richard M., President, Northeastern University, August 1996-. Mem-
ber ofthe Corporation, 1996 -.

Freidman, Arnold I., President, AIM-CHEM Enterprises, Inc.; President,
Chemical Enterprises, Inc. Member ofthe Corporation, 1987-95; Board of Over-
seers, 1989-95.

Furlong, Brenda J., Vice President and Treasurer, The Sheraton Corp.; Vice Pres-
ident and Treasurer, ITT Sheraton Corp. Member ofthe Corporation, 1980-94;
Board of Overseers, 1986-94.

Garcia, Frieda, Executive Director, United South End Settlements; President,
United South End Settlements. Member ofthe Corporation, 1986 -.

Cart, Murray J., Senior Editor (retired). Editorial Consultant, Time Inc.; Editorial
Consultant. Member ofthe Corporation, 1977-.

George, Judy, Chairman ofthe Board and CEO, Domain. Member ofthe Corpo-
ration, 1989 -; Board of Overseers, 1990-94.

Georgoulis, Stratton }., Chairman, President and CEO, TIC United Corp.
Member ofthe Corporation, 1992 -.

Gerber, Albert, Vice President, Gerber Electronics. Member ofthe Corporation,
1991-; Board of Overseers, 1994-.

Gicca, Francis A., President, GTE Government Systems Corp.; President Emer-
itus, GTE Government Systems Corp. Member ofthe Corporation, 1993 -; Board
of Overseers, 1995 -.

GiFFORD, Charles K., President, Bank of Boston; President and COO, Bank of
Boston; Chairman, CEO and President, Bank of Boston. Member ofthe Corpora-
tion, 1988 -.

Glennon, Paul W., U.S. Bankruptcy Judge (retired); Attorney- Financial Consul-
tant; Of Counsel, Howard J. Potash. Member ofthe Corporation, 1980-.

Glidden, Lloyd S., Jr., Senior Vice President and Treasurer (retired). Liberty Mu-
tual Insurance Companies. Member of the Corporation, 1972-93; Board of
Trustees, 1977-89; Lifetime Trustee Emeritus, 1989-93.

302

MEMBERS OF THE GOVERNING BOARDS, 1989-1996

GooDALE, Robert H., President, FlowTek, Inc. Member of the Corporation, 1991 -.

GoRiN, Rosalind E., President, H.N. Gorin Associates, Inc.; President, H.N.
Gorin, Inc. Member of the Corporation, 1985 -.

Grady, Joseph A., President and CEO, Ehzabeth Grady Face First; Founder, EHza-
beth Grady Face First. Member of the Corporation, 1989 -.

Grande, Corinne P., Associate Justice, Superior Court of Rhode Island; Associ-
ate Justice (retired). Member of the Corporation, 1986-96.

Grandin, John L., Trustee. Member of the Corporation, 1948-.

Gray, Herbert, Chairman and CEO, Suburban Ostomy Supply Co., Inc. Member
of the Corporation, 1996 -.

Gregg, Gary R., Executive Vice President, Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. Member
of the Corporation, 1996 -.

Grimes, Calvin M., Jr., President and CEO, Grimes Oil Co., Inc. Member of the
Corporation, 1989 -.

Guy, Donald B., President (retired). Bellows International, Ltd. Member of the
Corporation, 1966-95; Board of Trustees, 1968-79; Honorary Trustee, 1979-80;
Lifetime Trustee Emeritus, 1980-95.

Haas, Marvin I., CEO, Chock Full O' Nuts Corp.; President and CEO, Chock Full
O' Nuts Corp. Member of the Corporation, 1994-.

Hale, Allan M., Chief Justice (retired), Massachusetts Appeals Court. Member of
the Corporation, 1972 -; Board of Trustees, 1977-87; Lifetime Trustee Emeritus,
1987-.

Hawley, Edmund Blair, Educational Consultant. Member of the Corporation,
1977-90.

Haynes, Dr. Michael E., Minister, Twelfth Baptist Church. Member of the Cor-
poration, 1980 -.

Haynes, Nancy E. B., Marketing Manager, Thomson & Thomson; Partaer, Mar-
keting Alliances; Principal, Marketing Alliance. Member of the Corporation,
1993-.

Hekimian, Dr. James S., President, The Mugar Group, Inc.; Gravestar, Inc. Mem-
ber of the Corporation, 1980 -; Board of Trustees, 1986-94; Honorary Trustee,
1994-.

303

MEMBERS OF THE GOVERNING BOARDS, 1989-1996

Hellman, William, President and CEO, J.G. Industries, Inc.; Chairman, J.G. In-
dustries, Inc. Member of the Corporation, 1962-94.

Henderson, Ernest III, President, Henderson Houses of America, Inc.; Chair-
man of the Board, Henderson Houses of America, Inc. Member of the Corpora-
tion, 1967-; Board of Trustees, 1967-; Vice Chair, 1995-.

Heney, Joseph E., Vice Chairman, Camp Dresser & McKee, Inc.; Chairman Emer-
itus, Camp Dresser & McKee, Inc. Member of the Corporation, 1978-; Board of
Trustees, 1984 -.

Hennessy, Edward L., Chairman and CEO, AlUed-Signal, Inc. Member of the Cor-
poration, 1985 -.

Herbert, James S., Executive Vice President (retired), Western Electrical Co., Inc.
Member of the Corporation, 1973 -.

Hersey, Frederic T, President and CEO, Anson, Inc.; Senior Vice President,
Argus Management Corp.; Partner, F.T Hersey & Associates; President, Hersey
Associates. Member of the Corporation, 1989 -; Board of Overseers, 1990-92;
Board of Trustees, 1992 -.

Hewitt, Colby, Jr., Chairman of the Board, Frank B. Hall & Co. of Massachusetts,
Inc.; Member of Senior Management Team, Rollins, Hudig, Hall; Member of Se-
nior Management Team, Aon Risk Services, Inc., of Massachusetts. Member of
the Corporation, 1983-; Board of Overseers, 1987-95; Board of Trustees, 1995-.

HiATT, Arnold S., Chairman of the Board and CEO, The Stride Rite Corp.; Chair-
man of the Board, The Stride Rite Corp.; Chairman, The Stride Rite Foundation.
Member of the Corporation, 1979-; Board of Trustees, 1983-.

Hill, Richard D., President, Director, Chairman of the Board and CEO (retired).
Honorary Director, Bank of Boston Corp.; Chairman of the Board (retired). Bank
of Boston Corp. Member of the Corporation, 1969-94.

Holmes, D. Brainerd, President (retired), Raytheon Co. Member of the Corpora-
tion, 1976-93; Board of Trustees, 1983-89.

Holmes, Robert W, President (retired), Holmes and Associates. Member of the
Corporation, 1968 -.

Horowitz, Barry M., President and CEO, The Mitre Corp. Member of the Cor-
poration, 1991-95; Board of Overseers, 1993-95.

Howard, William S., Senior Vice President, Camp Dresser & McKee, Inc.; Pres-
ident, National Division, Camp Dresser & McKee, Inc. Member of the Corpora-
tion, 1993 -.

304

MEMBERS OF THE GOVERNING BOARDS, 1989-1996

Howe, Hartwell G., Director and President (retired), J.R. Carlson Machinery Co.
Member of the Corporation, 1963-94.

Howe, John S., Chairman and CEO (retired), The Provident Institution for Sav-
ings in the Town of Boston. Member of the Corporation, 1962-90.

Hurley, John J., Partner, Peat Marwick Main & Co.; Partner, KPMG Peat Marwick;
Certified Pubhc Accountant. Member of the Corporation, 1987-; Board of Over-
seers, 1988 -.

HuRTiG, Carl R., President and Director, Encor Limited. Member of the Corpora-
tion, 1968-; Board of Trustees, 1977-.

HuTCHiNS, Ralph E., President and CEO, TransTechnology Corp.; President and
CEO (retired), TransTechnology Corp. Member of the Corporation, 1990-95.

loRio, Theodore L., Vice President, Pharmaceutical Engineering, Copley Phar-
maceutical, Inc. Member of the Corporation, 1995 -.

Israel, Howard, President, Leejay, Inc.; President, Leejay Inc. d/b/a Bed& Bath.
Member of the Corporation, 1994 -.

Jackson, Deborah C, President, Morgan Memorial Goodwdll Industries. Mem-
ber of the Corporation, 1990-92.

Johnson, Edward C. 30, Chairman of the Board and CEO, FMR Corp. Member of
the Corporation, 1984-.

Johnson, Richard P., President (retired), Brigham, Inc.; Investor. Member of the
Corporation, 1977-94.

Johnson, Robert F., President, First Security Services Corp; President and
Chairman, First Security Services Corp. Member of the Corporation, 1990 -; Board
of Overseers, 1991 -.

Johnson, Robert L, Chairman of the Board (retired), Arkvmght Mutual Insur-
ance Co. Member of the Corporation, 1953-94; Board of Trustees, 1955-88; Life-
time Trustee Emeritus, 1988-94.

Johnston, Phil, Executive Director, CARE World Headquarters; President,
CARE; President, CARE Foundation. Member of the Corporation, 1986 -; Board of
Overseers, 1990-91; Board of Trustees, 1991-.

Jones, Henry C, Chairman of the Board (retired), Arkwright Mutual Insurance
Co. Member of the Corporation, 1952-91; Board of Trustees, 1965-83; Lifetime
Trustee Emeritus, 1983-91.

305

MEMBERS OF THE GOVERNING BOARDS, 1989-1996

Kariotis, George S., Chairman of the Board and CEO, Alpha Industries, Inc.;
Chairman of the Board, Alpha Industries, Inc. Member of the Corporation, 1969 -;
Board of Trustees, 1980-95; Lifetime Trustee Emeritus, 1995-; Vice Chair, 1991-
95; Vice Chair Emeritus, 1995 -.

Kazmaier, Richard, President, Kazmaier Associates, Inc. Member of the Corpo-
ration, 1989-94.

Kelley, Walter B., Senior Vice President (retired), American Telephone & Tele-
graph Co. Member of the Corporation, 1981-94.

Kenerson, Frances Comins. Member of the Corporation, 1968-; Board of
Trustees, 1971-77; Lifetime Trustee Emerita, 1978-.

Kennedy, Edward M., United States Senator from Massachusetts, United States
Senate. Member of the Corporation, 1965-90.

Keough, Paul C, Deputy Regional Administrator, Environmental Protection
Agency, Region 1. Member of the Corporation, 1990-94; Board of Overseers,
1991-94.

Kerasiotes, James J., Executive Vice President, Carlin Insurance; Chairman of the
Board, Adion, Inc.; Commissioner, Massachusetts Department of Public Works;
Commissioner, Massachusetts Highway Department; Secretary, Executive Office
of Transportation and Construction, Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Member
of the Corporation, 1990-; Board of Overseers, 1994-.

Kerry, John F., United States Senator from Massachusetts, United States Senate.
Member of the Corporation, 1987-91.

Keyes, Fenton C, Senior Partner -Consultant, Keyes Associates; Senior Partner,
Keyes Associates; Consultant, Keyes Associates; Chairman and CEO, Keyes De-
velopment Corp. Member of the Corporation, 1963 -.

Keyes, Walter L, Managing Partner, Keyes Associates. Member of the Corpora-
tion, 1990-.

King, Calvin A., President (retired), Bird Machine Co., Inc. Member of the Cor-
poration, 1964 -.

King, Thomas L., President and CEO, Standex International Corp. Member of the
Corporation, 1990-93.

Knowles, Asa S., President and Chancellor (retired), Chancellor Emeritus, North-
eastern University Member of the Corporation, 1959-90; Board of Trustees,
1975-82; Lifetime Trustee Emeritus, 1982-90.

306

MEMBERS OF THE GOVERNING BOARDS, 1989-1996

Kohlenberg, A. Max, Partner, Davis, Kilmarx, Swan & Kohlenberg; Partner, Ed-
wards & Angell. Member of the Corporation, 1995 -.

Kraft, Myra H., Director, Rand- Whitney, Inc.; Director, WHDH-TV; Director, In-
ternational Forest Products; President, GEM STAR. Member of the Corporation,
1991 -; Board of Overseers, 1994 -.

Kramer, Donald J., Partner, TA Associates; Principal, TA Associates; Partner
(retired), TA Associates. Member of the Corporation, 1989 -; Board of Overseers,
1990-91; Board of Trustees, 1991-.

Krentzman, Harvey C, President, Advanced Management Associates, Inc.
Member of the Corporation, 1975 -; Board of Trustees, 1983 -; Vice Chair, 1996 -.

Krentzman, Mark, Executive Vice President, Strategic Systems, Inc. Member of
the Corporation, 1995 -.

KuLESZA, Frank W., President, Epoxy Technology, Inc. Member of the Corpora-
tion, 1991 -.

LaBonte, C. Joseph, President and COO, Reebok International Ltd.; Chairman
and CEO, The Vantage Group, Inc.; Chairman and CEO, Jenny Craig Interna-
tional. Member of the Corporation, 1987-; Board of Overseers, 1989-95.

Lane, Brian R., Group Vice President of Marketing, NYNEX. Member of the Cor-
poration, 1996 -.

Lane, Evelyn M., Business Executive. Member of the Corporation, 1977-.

Langford, Dean T, President of Electrical Products Group, GTE Products Corp.;
President, OSRAM SYLVANIA, Inc. Member of the Corporation, 1985-.

Lau, Joanna T, President, Lau Technologies; Chairman of the Board and Presi-
dent, Lau Technologies. Member of the Corporation, 1994-; Board of Overseers,
1995-.

Laus, Andre A., President and CEO, Brittany Corp.; President, Bristol Corp.; Prin-
cipal, The Recovery Group. Member of the Corporation, 1990 -; Board of Over-
seers, 1992-95; Board of Trustees, 1995-.

Lawler, Joseph C. Ill, Chairman and CEO, Lawler, Botsford & Co.; President,
Figi's, Inc.; President, Gander Mountain, Inc.; President and COO, Gander Moun-
tain, Inc.; President, Catalog Services, R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co. Member of the
Corporation, 1988 -; Board of Overseers, 1989 -.

Lazarus, Maurice, Chairman of the Finance Committee (retired). Federated De-
partment Stores, Inc. Member of the Corporation, 1959-94.

307

MEMBERS OF THE GOVERNING BOARDS, 1989-1996

Lee, Bertram M., Chairman and President, BML Associates, Inc. Member of the
Corporation, 1987-91.

Leeman, John R., President, Leeman Labs, Inc. Member of the Corporation,
1989-; Board of Overseers, 1994-.

Lesser, Richard C, Executive Vice President and COO, The TJX Companies, Inc.
Member of the Corporation, 1995 -.

Levy, Allyn, Chairman of the Board (retired). Bank of New England Commercial
Finance Corp. Member of the Corporation, 1982-90.

Lewis, Elma, Founder and Artistic Director, Elma Lewis School of Fine Arts, Inc.
Member of the Corporation, 1975 -.

Lin, Chan K., President, Lin Associates; President, Lin Associates, Inc. Member
of the Corporation, 1989-93; Board of Overseers, 1990-93.

LiTviN, Melvin, President (retired). Data Printer Corp.; Principal, The China
Source; Principal, DC Trading Co. Member of the Corporation, 1992 -.

LoFTMAN, Kenneth A., Corporate Director for Government Relations (retired),
Cabot Corp. Member of the Corporation, 1969-93; Board of Trustees, 1971-93.

LovEjoY, George M., Jr., Chairman, Meredith & Grew, Inc.; Chairman Emeritus,
Meredith & Grew, Inc.; President, Fifty Associates. Member of the Corporation,
1983-.

Low, K. Prescott, Publisher, The Patriot Ledger. Member of the Corporation,
1989-; Board of Overseers, 1990-93; Board of Trustees, 1993-96.

Lowell, John, Partner, Welch & Forbes; Partner (retired), Welch & Forbes. Mem-
ber of the Corporation, 1958 -; Board of Trustees, 1961-92; Lifetime Trustee
Emeritus, 1992 -; Vice Chair, 1989-92; Vice Chair Emeritus, 1992 -.

Lowe N eels, Jeff B., Vice President and General Counsel, Yukon Pacific Corp.;
President and CEO, Yukon Pacific Corp. Member of the Corporation, 1993 -.

LuPEAN, Diane H., Director of RehabiHtation Services, Mt. Auburn Hospital (re-
tired). Member of the Corporation, 1971-; Board of Trustees, 1977-94; Honorary
Trustee, 1994 -.

MacConnell, George A., Senior Vice President for Distribution and Specialty
Operations, Georgia Pacific Corp.; Senior Vice President for Distribution and
Millwork, Georgia Pacific Corp.. Member of the Corporation, 1990 -.

308

MEMBERS OF THE GOVERNING BOARDS, 1989-1996

MacKinnon, Robert J., President and CEO, Siemens Medical Systems, Inc.; Pres-
ident and CEO (retired), Siemens Medical Systems, Inc. Member of the Corpora-
tion, 1992-96.

Madden, Peter E., President, State Street Bank and Trust Co.; Special Adviser,
State Street Bank and Trust Co.; Representative, Commonwealth of Massachu-
setts, House of Representatives. Member of the Corporation, 1983-90; Board of
Overseers, 1985-90.

Magnarelli, John T, Consultant; President, Ziti Graphics Inc. Member of the
Corporation, 199 1-.

Manganaro, Anthony R., Chairman, Siena Corp. Member of the Corporation,
1996 -.

Mann, Maurice, Chairman of the Board and CEO, The Pacific Stock Exchange
Inc.; Director and Consultant. Member of the Corporation, 1982-90.

Marini, Robert C, Chairman and CEO, Camp Dresser & McKee, Inc. Member of
the Corporation, 1981 -; Board of Overseers, 1985-89; Board of Trustees, 1989 -.

Marino, Lelio, President, Modern Continental Construction Co. Member of the
Corporation, 1993 -.

Marino, Roger M., Cofounder, EMC Corp.; Chairman and CEO, Golf Technolo-
gies, Inc.; Ov^ner, Marino Capital. Member of the Corporation, 1993-; Board of
Overseers, 1994-96; Board of Trustees, 1996-.

Martin, Lawrence H., Chairman of the Board (retired), Shawmut Bank of Boston
and Shawmut Corp. Member of the Corporation, 1953-93; Board of Trustees,
1955-80; Lifetime Trustee Emeritus, 1980-93.

Martin, Ralph C. II, District Attorney of Suffolk County. Member of the Corpo-
ration, 1995 -.

Massa, Donald P., President, Massa Products Corp. Member of the Corporation,
1992 -; Board of Overseers, 1994 -.

Massey, M. Dorothy, Professor Emerita, University of Rhode Island. Member of
the Corporation, 1977-95.

Matthews, George J., Chairman, Matthews Associates Limited. Member of the
Corporation, 1978 -; Board of Trustees, 1978 -; Vice Chair, 1987-89; Chair, 1989 -.

Mattson, Walter E., President and COO, The New York Times Co. Member of
the Corporation, 1980-91; Board of Overseers, 1989-91.

309

MEMBERS OF THE GOVERNING BOARDS, 1989-1996

May, Thomas, Chairman and CEO, Boston Edison. Member of the Corporation,
1995 -.

McCance, Henry F., President, Greylock Management Corp. Member of the Cor-
poration, 1992 -.

McCuNE, William J., Jr., Chairman of the Board, Polaroid Corp. Member of the
Corporation, 1980-91.

McDermott, Terence P., Attorney at Law; Attorney at Law, McDermott/O'Neill
Associates, Inc. Member of the Corporation, 1987-.

McDoNouGH, Will, Commentator, CBS Sports; Sports Columnist, The Boston
Globe; Commentator, NBC. Member of the Corporation, 1990-.

McHuGH, Katherine S., Of Counsel, Sugarman, Rogers, Barshak & Cohen;
Grant Administrator, Jessie B. Cox Charitable Trust; Director, Donor Services De-
partment, Hemenway and Barnes. Member of the Corporation, 1978 -; Board of
Trustees, 1983 -.

McKiM, Alan S., Chairman and CEO, Clean Harbors, Inc.; Chairman, President
and CEO, Clean Harbors, Inc. Member of the Corporation, 1989 -; Board of Over-
seers, 1990 -.

McNeice, John A., Jr., Chairman and CEO, The Colonial Group, Inc.; Chairman,
The Colonial Group, Inc.; Chairman and CEO, The Colonial Group, Inc. Member
of the Corporation, 1983 -; Board of Overseers, 1990-95.

Meg, Dominic, Jr., Consultant (retired). Member of the Corporation, 1965-.

Miller, Sydney L., President, Harry Miller Co.; President, Harry Miller Co., Inc.
Member of the Corporation, 1990 -.

Moore, Donald H., Chairman of the Board (retired), Philadelphia Manufacturers
Mutual Insurance Co. Member of the Corporation, 1977-.

Morgan, Jasper W, Jr., Vice Chairman, Shawmut Bank, N.A., and the Connecti-
cut National Bank; Vice Chairman, Bank of Boston Connecticut. Member of the
Corporation, 1989-94; Board of Overseers, 1989-94.

Morris, James A., Economic Consultant. Member of the Corporation, 1968-91.

Morton, E. James, Chairman and CEO, John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance.
Member of the Corporation, 1982-91.

Moscone, Donald S., President and Treasurer, Moscone, Inc.; President and
Treasurer (retired), Moscone, Inc. Member of the Corporation, 1989-91.

310

MEMBERS OF THE GOVERNING BOARDS, 1989-1996

MouLTER, Lawrence C, President and CEO, New Boston Garden Corp.; Chair-
man of the Board and President, New Boston Garden Corp.; Chairman of the
Board and President, The FleetCenter; President, Bob Woolf Associates. Member
of the Corporation, 1989-; Board of Overseers, 1993-.

MuLLiN, Lloyd, }., President, Comp Rep Associates. Member of the Corporation,
1995-; Board of Overseers, 1996-.

Murphy, Francis E., Managing Director, Municipal Bond Department, Lehman
Brothers, Inc. Member of the Corporation, 1994-.

Nagle, N. Laurence, President and CEO, Color Tile, Inc.; President and COO,
Color Tile, Inc.; President, Nagle & Associates. Member of the Corporation,
1981-.

Nasella, Henry }., President, Staples Inc.; Chairman and CEO, Star Market Co.
Member of the Corporation, 1991 -; Board of Overseers, 1992-95; Board of
Trustees, 1995 -.

Nelson, Barbara }., President, Adhesive Packaging Specialties, Inc.; Chairman of
the Board, Adhesive Packaging Specialties, Inc. Member of the Corporation,
1994-.

Nichols, William H., Jr., President, WHNCO Inc. Member of the Corporation,
1968-91.

Nicholson, Kathryn M., Director, Human Resources, NOVA Biomedical; Vice
President for Human Resources, NOVA Biomedical. Member of the Corporation,
1973 -; Board of Trustees, 1983 -.

O'Connell, Peter P., Partner, O'Connell Bros. Construction Co. Member of the
Corporation, 1984-; Board of Trustees, 1986-93.

O'RouRKE, Lawrence A., President, SNS Sales, Inc. Member of the Corporation,
1991-.

Ockerbloom, Richard C, President and COO, The Boston Globe; President (re-
tired). The Boston Globe. Member of the Corporation, 1986-; Board of Overseers,
1988-90; Board of Trustees, 1990-.

Ogren, Peter J., President, Hayes Engineering, Inc. Member of the Corporation,
1996 -.

Ollen, Richard A., Principal, Ollen Management Co. Member of the Corpora-
tion, 1994-; Board of Overseers, 1996-.

311

MEMBERS OF THE GOVERNING BOARDS, 1989-1996

Olsen, Stanley C, President, Gulf to Lakes Corp.; President, Gulf to Lakes Asso-
ciates, LTD. Member of the Corporation, 1975-95.

Orr, James H., Chairman of the Board (retired). Colonial Management Associates,
Inc. Member of the Corporation, 1959-91.

Owens, Edward O., President, Owens Companies. Member of the Corporation,
1982 -; Board of Overseers, 1986-88; Board of Trustees, 1988-.

OzTEMEL, Ara, Chairman and CEO, The Satra Group. Member of the Corporation,
1972-95.

Palm, Nels A., Palm Associates. Member of the Corporation, 1996 -.

Palmer, Paul J., Vice President and Area Manager, IBM Corp. Member of the Cor-
poration, 1986-92.

Pappas, Arthur A., Chairman (retired), Metrabyte; Chairman, Astrodyne Corp.
Member of the Corporation, 1990-; Board of Overseers, 1991-93; Board of
Trustees, 1993 -.

Pappas, Sophia H., Director, Thomas Anthony Pappas Charitable Foundation; At-
torney, Luscomb &. English. Member of the Corporation, 1989 -.

Park, R. Yvonne, President, Wes-Pine Millwork, Inc. Member of the Corporation,
1990-94.

Parsons, Edward S., Vice President for Business (retired). Northeastern Univer-
sity. Member of the Corporation, 1960-90.

Perera, Lawrence T, Partner, Hemenway & Barnes, Counselors at Law. Member
of the Corporation, 1979 -.

Peters, Leo F., President, Weston & Sampson Engineers, Inc. Member of the Cor-
poration, 1992 -.

Petrou, Nicholas V, President, Petrou Associates Ltd. Member of the Corpora-
tion, 1972-91.

Phillips, Edward E., Chairman and CEO, The New England; Chairman of the
Board, The New England; Chairman of the Board (retired). The New England.
Member of the Corporation, 1980-95.

Phillips, Thomas L., Chairman and CEO, Raytheon Co.; Chairman and CEO (re-
tired), Raytheon Co.; Director and Retired Chairman and CEO, Raytheon Co.; Di-
rector and Chairman and CEO (retired), Raytheon Co. Member of the Corporation,
1965-; Board of Trustees, 1968-84; Honorary Trustee, 1984-.

312

MEMBERS OF THE GOVERNING BOARDS, 1989-1996

Phinney, Edward D., Vice President (retired), International Telephone and Tele-
graph Corp. Member of the Corporation, 1947-91.

PiCARD, Dennis J., President, Raytheon Co.; Chairman and CEO, Raytheon Co.
Member of the Corporation, 1988 -; Board of Overseers, 1989-90; Board of
Trustees, 1990 -.

Pierce, Rudolph P., Partner, Goulston & Storrs. Member of the Corporation,
1977-90.

PopEO, R. Robert, Senior Partner, Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky, and Popeo,
PC; Chairman, Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky, and Popeo, PC. Member of
the Corporation, 1990 -; Board of Overseers, 1991 -.

Powell, Jerome M., President, Loyal Protective Life Insurance Co.; Business and
Financial Consultant; Business Consultant; Financial Actuary Member of the Cor-
poration, 1962 -.

Pratt, Albert, Vice Chairman, Chairman International, Director of Investment
Banking (retired), Paine, Webber, Jackson & Curtis, Inc.; Consultant. Member of
the Corporation, 1958-91.

Prendiville, John F., Vice President (retired), NYNEX Corp.; Consultant, JFP As-
sociates. Member of the Corporation, 1981 -; Board of Overseers, 1996 -.

Pruyn, William J., Chairman, Eastern Enterprises; Chairman (retired). Eastern
Enterprises. Member of the Corporation, 1971-; Board ofTrustees, 1976-95; Life-
time Trustee Emeritus, 1995 -.

PuopoLO, Dominic J., Director, American Medical Response. Member of the Cor-
poration, 1996 -.

Putnam, George, Chairman, The Putnam Management Co., Inc.; Chairman, The
Putnam Investment Management Co. Member of the Corporation, 1967-; Board
of Overseers, 1988 -.

Quirico, Francis J., Associate Justice (retired), Supreme Judicial Court of Mass-
achusetts. Member of the Corporation, 1969 -; Board ofTrustees, 1970-83; Life-
time Trustee Emeritus, 1983 -.

Ramirez, W Warren, Senior Vice President, Bank Five for Savings; Vice Presi-
dent, Brookline Savings Bank. Member of the Corporation, 1987-.

Rave, William H., Senior Vice President (retired). Bank of Boston. Member of the
Corporation, 1955-91.

313

MEMBERS OF THE GOVERNING BOARDS, 1989-1996

Reed, Donald B., President and Group Executive, NYNEX. Member of the Cor-
poration, 1996 -.

Rennie, John C, Chairman and CEO, Pacer Systems, Inc. Member of the Corpo-
ration, 1993-; Board of Overseers, 1994-.

Reppucci, Eugene M., Jr., Senior Vice President for Development (retired).
Northeastern University. Member of the Corporation, 1995 -.

Reznicek, Bernard W., Chairman and CEO, Boston Edison Co.; Dean, College of
Business Administration, Creighton University. Member of the Corporation,
1993-95.

Rice, Dr. Kathleen M., Vice President, Pratt Institute; Vice President for Stu-
dent Life, Pratt Institute. Member of the Corporation, 1973 -; Board of Overseers,
1991-95.

Rich, D. Paul, President and CEO, Rich International, Inc.; President and CEO,
Trans Atlantic Entertainment, Inc. Member of the Corporation, 1981 -.

Riesman, Robert. Member of the Corporation, 1981-; Board of Overseers,
1985-87.

Rivelli, Patrick A., General Partner, Sunwestem Investment Group. Member of
the Corporation, 1990 -; Board of Overseers, 1993 -.

Roberts, Daniel J., Senior Vice President -Treasurer (retired). Northeastern Uni-
versity. Member of the Corporation, 1974-.

Rogers, Ralph B., Chairman of the Board, Texas Industries, Inc. Member of the
Corporation, 1967-.

Roosevelt, Mark, Massachusetts State Representative. Member of the Corpora-
tion, 1986-91.

Rossetti, Ronald L, President and CEO, Nature Food Centres, Inc.; Consultant.
Member of the Corporation, 1980-; Board of Overseers, 1992-94; Board of
Trustees, 1994-.

Ryder, Kenneth G., Chancellor, Northeastern University. Member of the Corpo-
ration, 1975-; Board of Trustees, 1989-96; Lifetime Trustee Emeritus, 1996-.

Sanborn, Allen W., President, Shavsmiut Bank, N.A. Member of the Corporation,
1993-95.

Sargeant, Ernest J., Partner, Ropes & Gray; Of Counsel, Ropes & Gray. Member
of the Corporation, 1977-.

314

MEMBERS OF THE GOVERNING BOARDS, 1989-1996

Schneider, Roy L., Governor, Virgin Islands, USA. Member of the Corporation,
1995 -.

Seager, Donald W., Senior Vice President of Operations (retired), Harris Graph-
ics Corp. Member of the Corporation, 1969-92.

Shaftman, Sydney, Executive Vice President, Treasurer and Director (retired),
American Motor Inns, Inc. Member of the Corporation, 1966-96.

Shafto, Robert A., Chairman, President and CEO, The New England. Member
of the Corporation, 1993-95.

Shanahan, James L., Public Relations Consultant. Member of the Corporation,
1966 -.

Shea, William J., Executive Vice President, GEO and Treasurer, Bank of Boston;
Vice Chairman, CEO and Treasurer, Bank of Boston. Member of the Corporation,
1993 -; Board of Overseers, 1994-96; Board of Trustees, 1996 -.

Shillman, Robert J., Eounder and CEO, Cognex Corp. Member of the Corpora-
tion, 1994-; Board of Overseers, 1996-.

Simon, Dorothy M., Vice President for Research (retired), AVGO Corp. Member
of the Corporation, 1977-92; Board of Trustees, 1980-88.

Skelly, Robert A., Vice President and Assistant to the Executive Office, Raytheon
Go. Member of the Corporation, 1995 -.

Skelly, Thomas F., Senior Vice President for Einance and CEO, The Gillette Co.
Member of the Corporation, 1990 -; Board of Overseers, 1991-93; Board of
Trustees, 1993 -.

Slater, Paul D., Chairman of the Board, The Slater Co.; Chairman of the Board,
Eidelity Mortgage Co. of Boston. Member of the Corporation, 1979-92.

Smith, Charlotte B., Consultant (retired). Member of the Corporation, 1978-;
Board of Trustees, 1979-90; Lifetime Trustee Emerita, 1990 -; Vice Chair, 1988-
90; Vice Chair Emerita, 1990 -.

Smith, Donald W., Chairman of the Executive Committee (retired). The Singer
Co. Member of the Corporation, 1968-94; Board of Trustees, 1969-81; Honorary
Trustee, 1981-86; Lifetime Trustee Emeritus, 1986-94.

Smith, Earn ham W., Chairman and Treasurer, Katahdin Iron Works Corp. Mem-
ber of the Corporation, 1959-89; Board of Trustees, 1964-83; Lifetime Trustee
Emeritus, 1983-89.

315

MEMBERS OF THE GOVERNING BOARDS, 1989-1996

Smith, James C, President and CEO, HealthCare COMPARE Corp. Member of
the Corporation, 1995 -.

Smith, Janet M., Partner, Rackemann, Sawyer & Brewster; Partner, Rackemann,
Sawyer & Brewster, PC. Member of the Corporation, 1990-; Board of Overseers,
1992-96; Board of Trustees, 1996 -.

Smith, John P., Senior Vice President for Engineering and Manufacturing, Digi-
tal Equipment Corp.; Senior Vice President of Operations, Digital Equipment
Corp.; Senior Vice President and COO (retired). Digital Equipment Corp. Member
of the Corporation, 1989-96; Board of Overseers, 1990-96.

Snell, George A., President, Snell Construction Corp.; Chairman of the Board,
Snell Construction Corp. Member of the Corporation, 1967-; Board of Trustees,
1970-91; Lifetime Trustee Emeritus, 1991-.

Snowden, Gail, President, First Community Bank, Bank of Boston. Member of
the Corporation, 1996 -.

Snowden, O. Phillip, Codirector (retired), Freedom House, Inc.; Partner, Snow-
den Associates. Member of the Corporation, 1977-95.

SocoL, Jerry M., President and CEO, J. Baker, Inc. Member of the Corporation,
1990 -; Board of Overseers, 1995 -.

Solomon, Bernard, Executive Vice President, Bank of New England Corp.; Exec-
utive Vice President (retired), Bank of New England Corp.; Consultant. Member of
the Corporation, 1971-; Board of Trustees, 1980-95; Lifetime Trustee Emeritus,
1995 -; Vice Chair, 1991-95; Vice Chair Emeritus, 1995 -.

SoRGi, Lawrence, President, Worksmart Systems, Inc. Member of the Corpora-
tion, 1991-; Board of Overseers, 1993-.

SoRGi, Peter V, Attorney, Sullivan, Sorgi and Dimmock. Member of the Corpora-
tion, 1989-; Board of Overseers, 1990-94.

Sprague, Robert C, Honorary Chairman, Sprague Electric Co. Member of the
Corporation, 1953-91.

Stata, Ray, President, Analog Devices, Inc.; Chairman and CEO, Analog Devices,
Inc. Member of the Corporation, 1986-93.

Stern, Milton, Vice Chairman (retired), Stauffer Chemical Co. Member of the
Corporation, 1977-96.

Stone, David B., Chairman, North American Management Group; Chairman,
North American Management Corp. Member of the Corporation, 1959 -.

316

MEMBERS OF THE GOVERNING BOARDS, 1989-1996

Stone, Galen L., Associate Director, Tucker, Anthony & R.L. Day, Inc.; Investment
Executive and Trustee, Tucker, Anthony & R.L. Day, Inc.; Investment Executive and
Trustee, Tucker Anthony, Inc. Member of the Corporation, 1983 -; Board of Over-
seers, 1986-94.

Sullivan, Anne E., Attorney; Principal, SulHvan Associates. Member of the Cor-
poration, 1995 -.

Sullivan, Garrett A., President, Granada Hospital Group, Inc.; Partner, The Bay
Group; President, Southern Vermont Seafoods, Inc. Member of the Corporation,
1986-93.

Sweeney, Stephen J., Chairman and CEO, Boston Edison Co.; Chairman of the
Board (retired), Boston Edison Co. Member of the Corporation, 1983 -; Board of
Trustees, 1986 -.

Swersky, Phyllis S., President, Work/Family Directions; President, I-Cube; Pres-
ident and COO, V'net Collaborative, Inc. Member of the Corporation, 1994 -;
Board of Overseers, 1995 -.

Tarr, Robert J., Jr., President and COO, General Cinema Corp. Member of the
Corporation, 1990-92.

Taylor, H. Patricia, Vice President for Administration and Finance, Houghton
Chemical Corp.; Senior Vice President for Administration and Finance, Houghton
Chemical Corp. Member of the Corporation, 1981-; Board of Overseers, 1985-88;
Board of Trustees, 1988 -; Vice Chair, 1992 -.

Tempel, Jean C, COO and Executive Vice President, The Boston Co.; President
and COO, Safeguard Scientifics, Inc.; Executive Vice President and Director, Safe-
guard Scientifics, Inc.; General Partner, TL Ventures. Member of the Corporation,
1990 -; Board of Overseers, 1995 -.

Templeman, Lawrence I., Executive Vice President and Director (retired). Com-
mercial Union Assurance Companies. Member of the Corporation, 1969 -.

Tenney, Charles H. II, Chairman of the Board, Bay State Gas Co. Member of the
Corporation, 1955-92.

Thompson, Milton A., President, Thompson Enterprises. Member of the Corpo-
ration, 1967-92.

Thorndike, W. Nicholas, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Massachusetts
General Hospital; President and Trustee, Massachusetts General Hospital; Cor-
porate Director and Trustee. Member of the Corporation, 1977-; Board of Over-
seers, 1986-89; Board of Trustees, 1989-.

317

MEMBERS OF THE GOVERNING BOARDS, 1989-1996

ToBiN, Alan D., Senior Partner, Tobin & Waldstein; Certified Public Accountant,
Walter & Shuffain, PC. Member of the Corporation, 1980-; Board of Overseers,
1985-88; Board of Trustees, 1988-.

TooMEY, John R, Principal, Norwood Engineering Co.; Principal, Toomey-
Munson Associates; Principal, Toomey-Munson Associates, Inc. Member of the
Corporation, 1990 -.

Trigg, D. Thomas, Director (retired), Shawmut Corp. and the Shawmut Bank of
Boston. Member of the Corporation, 1966 -; Board of Trustees, 1972-88; Lifetime
Trustee Emeritus, 1988 -; Treasurer, 1973-79; Vice Chair for Finance, 1979-86;
Vice Chair, 1986-87; Honorary Vice Chair, 1987-90; Vice Chair Emeritus, 1990-.

TsoNGAS, Paul E., Chairman, Massachusetts Board of Regents of Higher Educa-
tion; Counsel, Foley, Hoag & Eliot; Partner, Foley, Hoag & Eliot. Member of the
Corporation, 1979-96.

Tucci, Joseph M., Chairman of the Board and CEO, Wang Laboratories, Inc.
Member of the Corporation, 1994 -.

TuFFiN, Wilson B., President and CEO, Nuclear Metals, Inc.; Vice Chairman, Nu-
clear Metals, Inc. Member of the Corporation, 1985-.

Turley, Joseph F., President (retired), The Gillette Co. Member of the Corpora-
tion, 1981-92.

Turner, William J., Chairman and CEO, FL Industries; Chairman and CEO,
Turner and Partners. Member of the Corporation, 1992 -.

Tyler, Chaplin, Consultant. Member of the Corporation, I960-; Board of
Trustees, 1966-77; Lifetime Trustee Emeritus, 1977-.

Tyler, William B., Director, Rackemann, Sawyer & Brewster; President, Racke-
mann. Sawyer & Brewster, P.C. Member of the Corporation, 1985-96.

Uhrich, Carole J., Vice President, Polaroid Corp.; Group Vice President for
Manufacturing and Development, Polaroid Corp.; Executive Vice President, Pola-
roid Corp. Member of the Corporation, 1989 -; Board of Overseers, 1990-92;
Board of Trustees, 1992 -.

Vataha, Randel E., Executive Vice President and COO, Bob Woolf Associates;
Managing Senior Partner, Bob Woolf Associates; President, Game Plan, Inc. Mem-
ber of the Corporation, 1986 -.

Wallace, Marc S., President, J. Howard & Associates, Inc. Member of the Corpo-
ration, 1993 -; Board of Overseers, 1994-.

318

MEMBERS OF THE GOVERNING BOARDS, 1989-1996

Walsh, Martin R, Director and Senior Vice President (retired), The Franklin
Mint Corp.; Consultant (retired). Member of the Corporation, 1972-96; Board of
Trustees, 1982-93; Honorary Trustee, 1993-95; Lifetime Trustee Emeritus,
1995-96.

Wang, An, Chairman of the Board and CEO, Wang Laboratories, Inc. Member of
the Corporation, 1972-90; Board of Trustees, 1979-90.

Waters, James L., President, Waters Business Systems, Inc. Member of the Cor-
poration, 1978-; Board of Trustees, 1983-.

Wax, Edward L., President and CEO, Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising, Inc.; Chair-
man, Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising, Inc.; President and CEO, Saatchi & Saatchi
Advertising Worldwide; Chairman and CEO, Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising World-
v^de. Member of the Corporation, 1985 -; Board of Overseers, 1987-.

Wendell, David T, Investment Counsel, David Wendell Associates, Inc. Member
of the Corporation, 1977-92.

Whiston, Donald P., Chairman of the Board and President, The First National
Bank of Ipswich. Member of the Corporation, 1983-92.

White, Catherine A., Associate Justice, Massachusetts Superior Court. Member
of the Corporation, 1986 -; Board of Overseers, 1988-90; Board of Trustees,
1990 -.

Whitworth, Dr. E. Leo, Jr., President and CEO, Whitworth Dental Associates.
Member of the Corporation, 1994-.

Wiesel, Robert C, Chairman and CEO, Stone & Webster Engineering Corp.
Member of the Corporation, 1996 -.

Williams, John T, Composer and Conductor, The Boston Pops Orchestra; Com-
poser and Conductor. Member of the Corporation, 1989-96; Board of Overseers,
1989-96.

Willis, Robert H., Chairman of the Board and CEO (retired), Connecticut Nat-
ural Gas Corp. Member of the Corporation, 1964-; Board of Trustees, 1964-94;
Lifetime Trustee Emeritus, 1994-; Alumni Term Member of Corporation, 1961-
64; Chair, 1971-89; Chair Emeritus, 1989 -.

Willmore, Dena C, Partner, Director of Marketing, Wellington Management
Co.; Partner (retired), Wellington Management Co. Member of the Corporation,
1995 -; Board of Overseers, 1996 -.

Yanoff, Seymour L., President and General Manager, WNEV-TV; Executive Vice
President, New England Television Corp. Member of the Corporation, 1985-95.

319

MEMBERS OF THE GOVERNING BOARDS, 1989-1996

Young, Richard W., CEO, Mentor O & O, Inc.; Director, Mentor Corp. Member
of the Corporation, 1968-92.

Zanghi, Lucille R., Vice President, Dean Witter Reynolds, Inc. Member of the
Corporation, 1990-; Board of Overseers, 1991-92; Board of Trustees, 1992-96;
Honorary Trustee, 1996 -.

ZiSES, Alvin C, President (retired), Prulease, Inc. Member of the Corporation,
1965-; Board of Trustees, 1966-77; Lifetime Trustee Emeritus, 1977-.

Zraket, Charles A., President and CEO, The MITRE Corp; President and CEO
(retired) and Trustee, The MITRE Corp. Member of the Corporation, 1985 -; Board
of Overseers, 1989-90; Board of Trustees, 1990-96; Lifetime Trustee Emeritus,
1996 -.

320

HONORARY DEGREE RECIPIENTS

1989-1996

Name

Ali, Mohammad
Allen, William R, Jr.
Angelou, Maya
Ashe, Arthur
AsNER, Edward
Auger, Diana J.

Bassuk, Ellen Linda
Bate MAN, Robert
Batson, Ruth Marion
Becton, Henry R, Jr.
Bern AYS, Edward L.
Brazelton, Thomas Berry
Briscoe, Benjamin Andrew
Brooks, Robert A.
Brown, Michael H.
Brown, William L
Brutus, Dennis Vincent
Bush, Barbara Pierce

Castelli, William P.
Childers, John Barton
Clinton, William Jefferson
Cobb, Jewel Plummer
Cohen, Morris
Coles, Robert

Degree

Year

Doctor of Public Service

1994

Doctor of Engineering

1990

Doctor of Fine Arts

1992

Doctor of Public Service

1990

Doctor of Humanities

1989

Doctor of Laws

1991

Doctor of Public Service

1993

Doctor of Fine Arts

1991

Doctor of Pedagogy

1989

Doctor of Public Service

1996

Doctor of Public Service

1989

Doctor of Humane Letters

1990

Doctor of Political Science

1992

Doctor of Engineering

1996

Doctor of Public Service

1995

Doctor of Humane Letters

1989

Doctor of Laws

1990

Doctor of Public Service

1991

Doctor of Science

1996

Doctor of Political Science

1993

Doctor of Public Service

1993

Doctor of Science

1990

Doctor of Science

1989

Doctor of Letters

1995

321

HONORARY DEGREE RECIPIENTS, 1989-1996

Coppersmith, S. James
Cotton, Clare M.
Crotty, Philip Thomas
Curry, John A.
CuRTiN, Jane

Deutch, John
Dunn, Martin J.

Edgerly, William
Egan, Richard J.
Ehrmann, Sara R.
Elfers, William

Ferguson, Vernice
Fireman, Paul
Eraser, Robert B.

Georgoulis, Stratton J.
Grace, Helen K.
Gray, William H. Ill
GuiNiER, Lani

Hartle, Terry W.
Hatch, Erancis Whiting
Heard, Marian
Henderson, Ernest III
Heney, Joseph E.
Henry, Aaron E.
Hiatt, Arnold S.
HoGAN, William T.
Horowitz, Morris

Johnson, Edward C. Ill

Kartasasmita, Ginandjar
Khazei, Alan Amir Ali
Krentzman, Harvey "Chet"
KusHNER, Harold S.

Lapchick, Richard
La Ware, John P.
Lesser, Laurence

Doctor of Journalism 1990

Doctor of Humane Letters 1994

Doctor of Business Administration 1995

Doctor of Public Service 1996

Doctor of Fine Arts 1993

Doctor of Public Service 1994

Doctor of Laws 1993

Doctor of Public Service 1995

Doctor of Letters 1995

Doctor of Laws 1992

Doctor of Humane Letters 1989

Doctor of Public Service 1990

Doctor of Humanities 1990

Doctor of Laws 1996

Doctor of Engineering 1996

Doctor of Humane Letters 1995

Doctor of Humane Letters 1992

Doctor of Laws 1994

Doctor of Laws 1996

Doctor of Humanities 1994

Doctor of Divinity 1996

Doctor of Public Service 1992

Doctor of Engineering 1990

Doctor of Laws 1992

Doctor of Public Service 1994

Doctor of Humane Letters 1991

Doctor of Humanities 1990

Doctor of Commercial Science 1989

Doctor of Public Service 1994

Doctor of Public Service 1995

Doctor of Business Administration 1991

Doctor of Humanities 1991

Doctor of Laws 1994

Doctor of Political Science 1989

Doctor of Music 1994

322

HONORARY DECREE RECIPIENTS, 1989-1996

Levine, Irving R.

Lewis, John

Lewis, Reginald (posthumous)

LiAcos, Paul J.

Lipman, Ira a.

LoFTMAN, Kenneth A.

Love, Susan Margaret

Lowell, John

MacKinnon, Catherine
Mahidol, Chulabhorn
Mandela, Nelson R.
Marino, Roger M.
Mavroules, Nicholas
McDonough, Will
McIntyre, Keith
Menino, Thomas M.
MuRTHA, John R

Neal, Richard I.
NoRRis, William C.

O'Brien, Paul Charles
Ockerbloom, Richard C.

Parks, Paul, Sr.
Patterson, P. J.
Picard, Dennis J.
PoE, Sheri

Doctor of Laws
Doctor of Public Service
Doctor of Humanities
Doctor of Laws
Doctor of Laws
Doctor of Science
Doctor of Science
Doctor of Public Service

Doctor of Laws

Doctor of Science

Doctor of Laws (presented in 1990)

Doctor of Humane Letters

Doctor of Political Science

Doctor of Journalism

Doctor of Pedagogy

Doctor of Public Service

Doctor of Political Science

Doctor of Military Science
Doctor of Engineering

Doctor of Laws
Doctor of Laws

Doctor of Engineering
Doctor of Letters
Doctor of Engineering
Doctor of Commercial Science

Rabkin, Mitchell

Doctor of Science

Reppucci, Eugene M., Jr.

Doctor of Humanities

Robinson, Mary

Doctor of Public Service

Robinson, Rachel Annetta

Doctor of Humane Letters

Roosevelt, Anna Curtenius

Doctor of Science

Rosenblatt, Norman

Doctor of Humane Letters

Rowlands, Jeanne L.

Doctor of Humane Letters

Sacco, Albert, Jr.

Doctor of Engineering

Sanusi, Dato Abdullah Ahmad

Doctor of Laws

Shaw, Bernard

Doctor of Journalism

Silber, John R.

Doctor of Humane Letters

1993
1995
1994
1991
1996
1990
1991
1989

1993
1989
1988
1996
1991
1993
1996
1996
1991

1991
1989

1993
1995

1994
1994
1989
1995

1994
1995
1994
1995
1992
1991
1992

1996
1993
1994
1992

323

HONORARY DEGREE RECIPIENTS, 1989-1996

Solomon, Bernard
Stern, David
Stone, Galen Luther
Sullivan, Leon Howard
Sweeney, Stephen J.

Tagliabue, Paul
Tauro, Joseph L.
Taylor, H. Patricia
Thomas, Helen
TiERNAN, Kip
ToBiN, Alan D.

Ullmann, Liv

Walsh, Martin F.
Waters, James L.
Wattleton, Faye
Weiss, Karl
Weld, William Floyd
West, Cornel
Wharton, Clifton R., Jr.
White, William D.
Wong, William
Wooden, Ruth A.

Doctor of Public Service 1991

Doctor of Commercial Science 1994

Doctor of Political Science 1993

Doctor of Divinity 1992

Doctor of Public Service 1994

Doctor of Humane Letters 1990

Doctor of Laws 1990

Doctor of Public Service 1996

Doctor of Journalism 1995

Doctor of Laws 1990

Doctor of Laws 1994

Doctor of Arts

1989

Doctor of Commercial Science

1992

Doctor of Science

1993

Doctor of Laws

1990

Doctor of Science

1993

Doctor of Letters

1995

Doctor of Humane Letters

1996

Doctor of Humane Letters

1994

Doctor of Humane Letters

1991

Doctor of Public Service

1993

Doctor of Public Service

1992

324

Page numbers in italics refer to illustrations.

INDEX

Academic Common Experience (ACE),

63-64
academic priorities committee, 56-58
academic programs

and administrative restructuring, 54-55

and budget cuts, 41

growth in, 42, 48, 51-52, 57-58, 67-69,
72-74, 78

and research initiatives, 58-61

and Snell Library, 61-62

strategic plan for, 52-54

and teaching emphasis, 62-64

testimonials for, 64-65

and University Press, 61
Adier, Norman, 101
administrative computer services, 21
admissions office, 21
admissions policy

and acceptance rate, 26, 29, 81 , 92

College of Arts and Sciences, 69

College of Engineering, 97

and enrollment management program,
28,54-55,138

and recession, 34, 35-37

restructuring of 26-29

and student recruitment, 42

University College, 114, 117
Advanced Research Projects Agency, 213
African-Americans

appointments of, 22, 23, 60, 72, 106, 157

buildings named after, 158-159

and student issues, 146

and student scholarships, 153

as students in national universities, 154

AH AN A Achievement Aw/ards, 147

Alternative Freshman Year (AFY) program,
18,26, 114, 117

alternative lifestyles group, 146

Alumni Association, 212

alumni magazine, 23, 24, 47

alumni relations office, 212

American Jewish Committee Institute of
Human Relations Award, 162

American Laboratory, 59

American Society for Engineering Educa-
tion, 101

American Society of Civil Engineers, 98

AmeriCorps, 226

Analog Devices, 214

Angelou, Maya, 160

archives, 62

Artificial Intelligence and the Law (Hafner
and Berman), 90

Arts al Sciences Chronicle, 74-75

Ashley, Scott, 167

Association of Independent Colleges and
Universities, 1 75, 176

Astro, Richard, 68

Athletes in Service to America program, 226

athletics programs

budgets for, 218-219
facilities for, 219-222

325

INDEX

athletics programs (continued)

merger of men's and women's, 222-223
strategic planning for, 223-224
successes of, 226-227

Ayers, Joseph, 73

Babson College, 82, 115

Baclawski, Ken, 89

Bacon Memorial Chapel, 142

Baer, Michael

and academic programs, 52, 53, 54-55,

57,62
actions as provost, 25, 28
appointment as provost, 76, 17-18, 19,

21,40
and budget issues, 35, 37-38, 41, 42, 47,

48
and campus renovations, 186
and College of Business Administration,

83
and College of Computer Science, 88-

89, 90-91
and College of Engineering, 99, 103
and cooperative education, 129
and health programs merger, 77
on university's transformation, 27, 235
on research funding, 58, 59, 60
and student programs, 144

Baker, Terence, 71

Balfour Academy, 209, 214

Balfour Foundation, 209

Barnes & Noble, 140

Barnett Institute of Chemical Analysis and
Materials Science, 59, 215

Barron's Profiles of American Colleges, 52, 64

Behrakis, George, 79, 210, 213

Bell, Derrick, 108

Belmore, Mark, 34, 145-146

Benenfeld, Alan, 61, 62, 193, 197, 200

Bentley College, 82, 115

Bergman, Kostia, 74

Berman, Donald, 90, 105

Black & White Boston Award, 1 58

Blackman, David, 103, 170, 214

Board of Trustees

and academic programs, 57

and Curry's appointment, 10-11

and diversity policy, 158

and endowment subcommittee, 46

and fundraising, 207, 211

and general education, 67

and student center, 1 35

and tenure requirements, 123
Board of Visitors, 84-85
Bork, Ruth, 159, 160
Born, Jeffery, 84
Boston Bar Association, 174
Boston-Bouve College

establishment of xiv

merger with College of Education, xv
Boston-Bouve College of Human Develop-
ment Professions

establishment of, xv

merger with College of Pharmacy and Al-
lied Health Professions, 41, 57, 75,
76, 77
Boston College, 28, 82
Boston-Fenway Program, 172, 194
Boston Globe, xvi, 8, 1 1 , 25, 31 , 46, 65, 94,

170, 176,177,233
Boston Herald, 233
Boston Plan for Excellence, 1 71-1 72
Boston Police Department, 94-95
Boston Society of Architects Award, 142
Boston University, 82, 109-110, 115
Boston Youth Leadership Awards, 147
Botolph Building, xiii, 88
Bourque, Daniel, 195

Bouv^-Boston College, merger with North-
eastern University, 76
Bouv^ College of Pharmacy and Health
Sciences

enrollments in, 78

merger, 75, 77

new and existing programs of 75, 78

research and scholarship by, 78-79

roots of, 76
Boyd, David

on Curry's appointment, 2-3

and fundraising, 213

and renovation plans, 186-187

on university's transformation, 80, 81,
82, 86, 234

326

INDEX

Brandeis University Heller School, 83

breakfast forums, 85

Breslauer, Mary, 24

Broad Street campus, 115, 7 76,193

Brooks, Robert, 94

Brown, Cynthia, S7, 89

Brown, Susan, 145

Bruni, Thomas, 197

Brutus, Dennis, 108

budget cuts

and faculty salaries, 43-44
and layoffs, 37-40, 42-43
media articles on, 46-47
and recession, 31-35
for restructuring, 41-42, 45-46
and university's transformation, 35-37,
48-49

budget increases, 40-41

building renovations
Botolph building, 88
and community relations, 173-174
Curry's work toward, 1 35-1 43, 181-

189
Dodge Hall, 63, 85-86, 138, 186-187,

213
Forsyth Hall, 99-100
School of Law, 105,107
71 6 Columbus Avenue, 1 73, 187
Student Center, 45, 135-136, 138-141,
187

Bullins, Edward, 71

Buonopane, Ralph, 101

Burke, Ed, 175

Bush, Barbara, 13, 179, 191, 230, 231

Cabot Physical Education Center, xiii, 188,

219
Cadence Design Systems, Inc., 213
Campaign Cabinet, 211
campus development, xiii, xiv, xv
campus environment

and classroom building, 184, 185, 186

Curry's plans for, 181-184, 194-196,
231-232

and Egan Center, 184

Knowles's plans for, 184

and landscaping, 188-193

and leased facilities, 193-194

and Marino Recreation Center, 184-185

renovations to, 184-187

Ryder's plans for, 184

and sculpture, 191, 792, 193, 214

and sports and recreation facilities,

187-188
and technology infrastructure, 196-201
Canale, Richard, 103
Cargill, Thomas, 9
Cargill Hall, xv, 207
Carnegie Classifications, 13, 52, 64
Carter, Holly, 169
Case, Robert, 74

Centennial Campaign, 206, 209-215
Centennial Common, 190
Center for Biotechnology Engineering, 100
Center for Communications and Digital

Signal Processing, 100
Center for Community Health Education,

Research, and Service, 110, 214
Center for Criminal Justice Policy Research,

94
Center for Digital Signal Processing, 89, 215
Center for Drug Targeting and Analysis,

78-79
Center for Effective University Teaching, 62
Center for Electromagnetics Research, 60,

100, 103,215
Center for Family Business, 1 1 8
Center for Innovation in Urban Education,

74, 168
Center for Interdisciplinary Research on

Complex Systems, 73
Center for Labor Market Studies, 73
Center for the Enhancement of Science and
Mathematics Education (CESAME),
100-101
Center for the Study of Sport in Society, 68,

158,209,215,217,225-226
Century Fund, Phase I, 207
Century Fund, Phase II, 206-209
Chan, Chung, 101

Chronicle of Higher Education, 25, 46, 47, 65
Chunn, Kelly, 74
Churchill Graduate Center, xiii

327

INDEX

CIO Magazine, 46

Cipolla, John, 28-29, 53, 56, 58, 97, 200

City Year partnership, 1 74

Clark, Paula, 168, 171

classroom building, 63, 184, 185, 186

Clinton, Bill, 13, 166, 179, 228, 229-230,

232-234
Clinton, Hillary Rodham, 233
Coffin, Charles, 9, 23, 24, 52, 232-233
Coffin, Gregory, 168
Cohen, Irwin, 222-223
College of Arts and Sciences

and budget cuts, 69

dual majors in, 69

enrollments in, 68

faculty of, 71-72

honors program of, 74

Lowndes as dean of, 67, 68-69, 72

master's programs of, 70

new programs of, 69-70, 72-74

reputation of, 70, 71, 73, 74
College of Business Administration, 53, 114

Board of Visitors for, 84-85

breakfast forums of, 85

and corporate community connections,
84-85

excellence and success of, 86

facilities for, 85-86, 186-187

history of, xiii

master's programs of, 70

new programs of, 80-81 , 82-83

problems for, 80-82

research and scholarship by, 84
College of Computer Science

background of, xv, 87

enrollments in, 86-87, 88, 89

reputation of, 87-88

research and scholarship by, 89-90

turnaround of, 86-91
College of Criminal Justice

and city programs, 1 74-1 75

establishment of, xiv, 91

growth and excellence of, 65, 92-95

research and scholarship by, 93
College of Education, xiv, xv, 76
College of Engineering

acquisition of Lowell Institute by, 103

enrollment declines in, 92, 96-98

faculty hiring for, 102

fundraising for, 103-104

grant funding for, 103

growth and excellence of, 102-104

master's programs of, 70, 101

problems and turnaround of, 95-97

recognition for, 101

recruitment programs for, 98-99

research and scholarship by, 95-96,
99-102

student support in, 83, 98-99
College of Liberal Arts, xiii, 67-68
College of Nursing

establishment of, xiv

graduate programs of, 110

grant funding for, 1 10-1 1 1 , 1 1 2-1 1 3, 21 4

interdisciplinary programs of, 83

transformation of 109-113
College of Pharmacy and Allied Health
Professions

enrollment problems of 76

establishment of xiv, 76

merger with Boston-Bouve College of
Human Development Professions,
41,57, 75
Columbia University, 33
Columbus Place, 107, 173, 187
communications strategy

and recruitment brochures, 55

reorganization of 23-26
Communicorp, 42, 55
community relations, xv, 25, 165-168
Comprehensive Center for Minorities, 103
computer systems, 144, 182, 196-197
"Computing the Future," 89
Condon, Terry, 223
Connections program, 143
contract privatization, 45
cooperative education

changesin, 53-54, 126-129

and College of Computer Science, 90

and College of Engineering, 98

committee on, 124-125

and Cooperative Engineering School, xiii

examination of 121-124

and experiential education, 70

328

INDEX

history of, xiii, xiv, xv

promotion of, 129-133, 178

and recession, 34

and School of Law, 104, 108, 109

and staff morale, 127-129
Cooperative Education Planning Project, 125
Cooperative Engineering School, xiii
corporate leadership committee, 209
Cotter, William, 209
Cotton, Clare, 149, 175, 177
Coyle, Steven, 178
Cozzens, Margaret, 56
Crime in the Making, Pathways and Turning

Points Through Life (Laub), 93
Cromer, Alan, 100
Crotty, Philip, 20, 21
Crotty, William, 71
Cullinane, John, 88, 208
Cullinane, Margaret Fitzgerald, 88
Cullinane Hall, xiii, xv, 88
Culver, Robert

and academic programs, 54

appointment as treasurer, 15, 16, 18, 19,
21

and athletics planning, 223

and campus improvements, 139, 181,
183,195,196

and public schools study, 171

and restructuring plans, 29, 37-38, 45,
47-48

and technology infrastructure, 144, 197
Curry, John Anthony, //, 7, 12, 47, 61, 136,

137, 148, 162, 205, 211, 230, 231, 236

and academic excellence, 58-65

and academic programs, 51-54

and administrative reorganization, 15-
23,31-49

and admissions policy, 26-29

appointment as president, 1-3, 8-10

and campus environment, 181-184,
194-196

early career of, xii, 5-8

childhood of, 3-4

and College of Arts and Sciences, 68-71,
73-75

and College of Business Administration,
81,84

and College of Computer Science, 89
and College of Criminal Justice, 93-95
and College of Engineering, 99, 102,

103-104
and College of Nursing, 1 1 1
college years of, xi-xii, 4-5
and community relations, 1 65-1 79
and cooperative education, 121-126,

129-130, 132-133
and diversity policy, 151-163
editorials by, 160-61, 176, 177-78, 233
and financial aid policy, 147-149
and fundraising, 1 77-1 79, 205-206,

209-215
goals of, 11-13

and health programs merger, 77
inaugural address by, 230-231
and Low/ndes, Robert, 68
in media, 25

and public schools programs, 168-172
and recreation/athletics programs, 217-

218,227
and School of Law, 105
student center dedicated to, 1 35-1 36
support of students by, 136-149
and University College, 1 1 7
and university communications, 23-25
and university's transformation, xii,

xv-xvii, 12-13, 231-238
Curry, Marcia, 1, 4, 5, 135, 206, 236
Curry Scholarship, 149
Curry Student Center, 135-136, 138-141,

184
Cutts, Elmer, 5

Dalton, Clare, 105-106

Damian, Martin, 38

Daniloff, Nicholas, 71

Daynard, Richard, 25, 106

Deans' Council Development Committee,

211
debt refinancing, 45, 183
Decker, Jessie, 64, 74
Deltano, Edmund, 18, 22, 38
Demes, Maseresha, 170
development office, 209-213

329

NDEX

Diamond Anniversary Campaign, 207
Disability Resource Center, 159
disabled, services for, 159-160
Division of Continuing Education

and cooperative education program, 122

development of 1 1 8-1 1 9

and merger with University College, 41
Division of Fine Arts, 68
Division of Performing and Visual Arts, 73
doctoral degree programs

arts and sciences, 69-70

pharmacy, 78
Dodge Hall, xiii, 63, 85-S6, 138, 186-187,

213
Domestic Violence Advocacy Project, 106
Domestic Violence Institute, 214
downsizing, xvi, 12-13, 36, 37, 43, 49, 235

of Alternative Freshman Year program,
56,117

budget cuts, 40-41, 42, 44-45, 69, 102

buyouts and retirements, 40-41, 43

enrollment management, 54-55, 56, 117

in faculty ranks, 69,82, 102

layoffs, 31-32, 36, 37-40, 43

media reaction to, 46-47

program mergers, 75, 77

in vice presidential ranks, 16, 19-20,
21-22
Driscoll, John, 225
Drucker Award, 226
drug education program, 225
dual major, 69
Duffey, Joseph, 10
Dukakis, Michael, xvi, 71, 149, 174, 233

East/West Marine Biology program, 73

Eddy, Jean, 2«, 29, 51,148

Education Reform Committee, 176

Edwards, Deborah, 736, 146

Egan, Maureen, 58, 95-96, 184, 203

Egan, Richard ]., 58, 95-96, 184, 203, 204,

213,238
Egan Engineering/Science Research Center,

25, 95-96, 1 38, 1 78-1 79, 1 84, 185,

203,214
Egypt partnership. University College, 116

Ekizian, Sue, 220

elementary school programs, 101

Elfers, Anne Rice, 112

Elfers, William, 112

Ell, Carl Stephens, xi, xii, xiii-xv

Ell Scholarships, 147

EMC Corporation, 203-204, 213

endowment, 46

English, Department of, 69

enrollment

in Alternative Freshman Year program,

56, 117
in Boston-Bouve College of Human

Development Professions, 78
in Bouve College of Pharmacy and

Health Sciences, 78
in College of Arts and Sciences, 68-69
in College of Business Administration,

80-81
in College of Computer Science, 86-87,

88,89
in College of Education, 76
in College of Engineering, 95, 96-97
in College of Nursing, 109, 110
in College of Pharmacy and Allied Health

Professions, 76, 78
of international students, 131, 154
of Latino students, 154
in School of Law, 105
of students with disabilities, 160
in University College, 1 1 3-1 15,117
university-wide, xv, xvi, 13, 26-27, 32,
34-35, 36-37, 43, 44, 182-83, 237
enrollment management program, 28-29,

54-55,138
enrollments committee, 36-37
equity pay, 43
Erickson, Robert, 208
Erickson, Sara, 208
evaluations, teacher/course, 143
Evans, Mark, 98
Evans, Paul, 94

Evening Institute for Young Men, xi
Evening Polytechnic School, xiii
Evening School of Law, xii
Excellence in Teaching awards, xv
experiential education program, 70

330

NDEX

faculty downsizing, 69, 82, 102
Faculty Senate

and academic programs, 41, 57, 63

and admissions policy, 26

and budget issues, 43-44

and cooperative education, 126

creation of, xiv

and presidential search, 9, 10

and teacher/course evaluations, 143

and teaching improvements, 64
Farinella, Frank, 9, 52
Fenway Alliance, 1 72
Fenway Community Health Center, 162,

173
financial aid

administration of, 21, 28

for bright students, 55

Curry's support of, 147-149, 175, 177-
178

gifts to, 215

and national enrollment, 55
Financial World, 46
Finkelstein, Larry, 87, 89, 90, 235
Finnegan, Neal, 37, 117,212,237
Fletcher, Joyce, 126
Florentine, Mary, 79
Flynn, David, 194-195
Flynn, Edith, 93

Flynn, Raymond, 148, 171, 174, 176,233
forensics team, 74
Forsyth Hall, 99-100
Fortune, 46
Fowler, William, 224
Fox, James Alan, 24, 88, 91, 92, 93, 94,

175
Frank Palmer Speare Society, 209
Franklin, Wayne, 71
Franks, Peter, 132-133
Fraser, James, 71, 74, 168
Freedom House papers, 62
Freeland, Richard M., 236
Freeport Indonesia, 131
Freshman Friends program, 144
Fund for the Improvement of Post-
secondary Education, Department
of Education, 63
Fund for the Public Interest, 107

fundraising

and academic excellence, 21 5

and Centennial Campaign, 209-213

and Century Fund, 206-209

origins of, xiv

successes in, 203-206, 213-215

Futrelle, Robert, 89

Gailey, Christine, 2

Caller, Richard, 166-167

Caller, Vicki, 166-167

Gallup, Barry, 218, 219, 223,224

Garland, Gilbert C, 5

Garrity, W.Arthur, Jr., 154, 168

Gauthier, Mary Anne, 112

gay employees, 158

gay students, 155

Ciese, Roger, 79

Ciessen, Bill, 72

Gillette Company, 213

Givelber, Daniel, 104, 105, 106, 211, 235

Goldberg, Arthur, 193

Goldsmiths College, University of London, 70

Goncalves, Humberto, 20, 27-28

Gore, Al, 166

government relations, xv, 165-167

Gozzo, James, 75, 79, 235-236, 238

Grabel, Arvin, 47,236-237

graduate programs

Bouve College of Pharmacy and Health
Sciences, 78

College of Arts and Sciences, 69-70

College of Business Administration, 82,
83

College of Computer Science, 88

College of Engineering, 101

College of Nursing, 110

enrollments in, 34

interdisciplinary, 83

physician's assistant, 78

University College, 1 1 6-1 1 7
graduation speakers, 143
grants

City Year, 174

College of Computer Science, 89-90

College of Engineering, 25, 95, 103, 184

331

INDEX

grants (continued)

College of Nursing, 110-111, 112-113,

214
cooperative education, 130, 131
Curry's work toward, 103, 177-179, 214
engineering/science research center,

214
public school program, 1 70
School of Law, 106, 107
Youth Leadership Corps, 174

grievances policy, 158

Grinold, Jack, 219, 226, 227

Guiney, Ellen, 171-1 72

honors program, 60, 209, 215

College of Arts and Sciences, 74
Hookailo, Janet, 24, 25
Hoop Dreams, 226
Houskeeper, Julie, 7 72
Hulsey, William, 167, 233
Humanitarian Award, National Conference

of Christians and Jews, 162
human resources management, 21
Huntington Field, xiii. See also Parsons Field
Huntington Society, 209
Hurley, Anne, 112

Hafner, Carole, 89, 90, 105

Haitian Student Unity, 160

Hall, David, 106-107, 157

Hallenborg, Charles, 181

HallenborgWay, 790

Harleston, Bernard, 10

Harrington, Paul, 33-34, 73

Harris, George, 23, 144, 157, 197, 198, 198-

200
Harris, Lou, 226
Harris-Lewis, Donna, 224, 225
Harvard University, 115
Hawking, Stephen, 72, 73
Hayden Hall, xiii

health care for employees, 45-46
Hecht-Shaw Award, 162
Hedlund, Ronald, 58
Hellman, Daryl, 25-26, 41, 42, 60
Henderson, Ernest, III, 112, 117,221
Henderson, Mary Louise, 112, 221
Henderson Boathouse, xv, 187-188, 227
Henderson House, 45, 193
HentofF, Nat, 108
Herman, Gerald, 67, 143, 185, 234
Hersey, Frederic, 236
Hiatt, Arnold, 13, 107
high school student programs, 100-101
Higher Education Act, 130
Hispanic faculty, 60, 1 57
Hispanic students, 154
History, Department of, 69

Indonesian grant, 131
Instructional Development Fund, xv
interdisciplinary programs, 69, 83, 110
international programs

College of Arts and Sciences, 70-71

College of Business Administration,
82-83, 84

cooperative education, 131

University College, 1 1 6
international students, 154
International Symposium on Particles,

Strings, and Cosmology, 73
Ireland: North and South program, 70

Jackson, Ellen, 752, 154

Jarroll, Edward, 71

Jean-Mary, Elsie, 7 72

Jeffries, Leonard, 160

Jenkins, Robin, 46

Johnson, Robert, 94

Jordan, John, 773, 117

Jose, Jorge, 71, 72

Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 94

Journalism, School of 71

journals, academic

College of Arts and Sciences, 72
College of Computer Science, 90
College of Criminal Justice, 94
School of Law, 105

Justice George Lewis Ruffin Society, 94-95,
175

332

INDEX

Kain, Joseph, 140
Kamin, Leon, 72, 157
Kaplan, Mort, 73
Karger, Barry, 59
Kariotis Hall, xv, 207
Karma, Alain, 72
Katz, Ralph, 84
Kaufman, Debra, 61, 71
Keady, Thomas, 25

and Clinton's commencement
appearance, 232-234

on Curry's accomplishments, 176

as director of government relations,
25, 165-168, 175, 179

and Egan Center grant, 1 78
Kellogg Foundation, 110-111, 214
Kelly, Kevin, 28

Kennedy, Christopher, 20, 145
Kennedy, Edward, 148, 149, 166, 178,

214,233,234
Kennedy, John F., 233
Kennedy, Joseph, 148, 149
Kerasiotes, James, 172
Kerry, John, 178
Khaw/, Ban-an, 78-79
King, James, 22
King, Paul, 99, 101, 102
Kneeland, William, 22, 38
Knowles, Aileen, 74
Knowles, Asa Smallidge, xi, xii, 7

accomplishments of, xiv, 5-6,
91-92

and campus environment, 184, 189

and cooperative education, 123

and fundraising, 207

and scholarship programs, 153,
154

and University College, 114
Kopin Corporation, 213
Kramer, Donald, 213
Krentzman, Faria, 191, 214
Krentzman, Harvey, 191, 201, 208, 214,

275
Krentzman Quad, 797
Krizack, Joan, 62
Kursh, Steven, 103

Lally, Sandra, 43
landscaping, 188-193, 214
Lane, Harlan, 752

and diversity commission, 151 ,

155-156
and MacArthur Foundation grant, 64, 71
Lane Health Center, 21, 45
Langlie, Mary, 145
Lapchick, Richard, 25, 225, 226
Latin American Student Organization

(LASO), 159
Latino Cultural Center, 142, 159
Latino students, 146, 154, 159
LaTorre, Philip, 21,37-38
Laub, John, 93
Law/ Enforcement Assistance Act (LEAA),

91,92
Leaf, Ruth, 193
Lefferts, Jason, 201
Leiberherr, Karl, 90
Lembo, Vincent, 174
Lena Park Community Development

Corporation, 162
Leskes, Andrea, 64
Levendis, Yiannis, 98
Levin, Jack, 24, 50, 72, 93
Lew/is, John, 108

Lewis, Reggie, 174, 218, 224-225
Liberty Square campus, 1 1 5
Library Building, xiii. See also Dodge Hall
Lifter, Karen, 79
Lindemann, Carol, 111-112
Lipman, Ira, 93

Little Brothers-Friends of the Elderly, 173
Loeffelholz, Mary, 54
Loftman, Kenneth, 159
Looney, Shelley, 227
Lowell, John, 103
Lowell Institute, 103
Lowndes, Robert, 68

as dean of arts and sciences, 67, 68-69,

72
as interim provost, 16-17, 25, 62
Luffborough, Douglas, 229, 230
Luttgens, Kathryn, 125
Lydon, James, 172

333

INDEX

MacArthur Foundation grant, 64, 71

Maguire, Jack, 28

Mahut, Helen, 9

Makris, George, 188

Mallon, William, 195

Malone, John, 195

Malutov, Mikhail, 71

Mandela, Nelson, 230, 231

Manning, James, 71

Manning, Pat, 227

Manning, Patrick, 72

Marbury Terrace warehouse, 194

Marine Science Center, 73, 194

Marini, Robert

and alumni relations, 94

and Centennial Campaign, 210, 215

and Century Fund, 208

on cooperative education, 97-98, 121,
133

on Curry's fundraising, 206
Marino, Michelle, 185,204,217
Marino, Roger, 185, 204, 205, 213, 217
Marino Recreation and Fitness Center

and campus transformation, 138, 181,
184,187

donation for, 1 84-1 85, 204, 21 7

importance of, 217, 218, 219-220
Marple, Wesley, Jr., 84
Marsh, Frank, 5
Martel, Ronald, 167
Martin, John

and budget cuts, 45

and campus improvements, 139, 181,
192, 795-196

and community relations, 1 72

and minority contracts, 158

and technology infrastructure, 197

as vice president, business, 22
master's degree programs

Bouve College of Pharmacy and Health
Sciences, 78

College of Arts and Sciences, 70

College of Business Administration, 70,
82,83

College of Engineering, 101

College of Nursing, 110

interdisciplinary, 83, 110

physical therapy, 78

speech-language pathology and audiol-
ogy, 78
Mathematics, Department of, 70
Matthews, George J., 12, 61, 205, 230

and Board of Trustees, 1

and Distinguished Professorships, 60,
71-72

on downsizing, 47

and enrollments committee, 36

and fundraising, 179, 207,210,212,214

support for Curry, 8, 1 5, 65
Matthews, Kathleen Waters, 60
Matthews Arena, xv, 45, 1 38, 1 75, 1 88, 21 4,

220
Matthews Distinguished Professorships, 60,

61, 71-72
Mayor's Youth Leadership Corps, 174
McCabe, Philip, 27, 212
McCarthy, Daniel, 84
McCormack, Michael, 178
McDevitt, John, 94, 143, 175
McGee, Patrick, 65
McKenna, Margaret, 10
McLaughlin, Jeff, 227
Meador, Joseph, 84
media articles

on academic excellence, 65

on Curry, 25

on university downsizing, 46-47
media labs, 63
media relations, 23-26
Meltsner, Michael, 61
Mena, Terry, 159
Menino, Thomas, 7 70
Mentors in Violence Program, 226
Meservey, Patricia, 110
Meyer, Marc, 84

Meyer, Richard, 206, 210, 272, 213
Middlebury College, 39
Miller, Joanne, 72

minority business development, 158
minority faculty and staff

and cooperative education, 127

and Curry's diversity policy, 22, 23, 60,
72, 156-158, 159

and School of Law, 105

334

INDEX

minority students

and College of Criminal Justice, 95
and College of Engineering, 103
Curry's support for, 72, 74, 142, 146
and Lane Commission, 1 55-1 56, 1 59-1 60
in national universities, 154
opportunities for, 152-155

Mitchell, George, 234

Moakley, Joseph, 1 78-1 79, 21 4, 233

Mohawk College, 132

Motley, Keith, 154-155

Mudge, Marcia. See Curry, Marcia

Mugar Hall, xiii

Mulvihill, Sister Rosemary, 142

Murphy, Joseph, 45, 46, 183

Murphy, Richard, 98

Murtha, John, 178-179, 214

Music at Noon, 74

Nadeau, Roland, 74

Nader, Ralph, 72-73

Nagel, James, 71

Nasella, Henry, 211

Nath, Pran, 71,73

Nathanson, Stephen, 62

National Association of College and Univer-
sity Business Officers (NACUBO), 46

National Association of Independent Col-
leges and Universities (NAICU), 177

National Cancer Institute, 106

National Commission for Cooperative Edu-
cation, 127, 130, 132

National Conference of Christians and Jev^s,
Humanitarian Award, 162

National Jurist, 65, 108

National Merit Scholarship semifinalists, 55

National Research Council, 70, 89

National Science Foundation, 63, 73, 89, 95,
100, 103,214

National University Continuing Education
Association, 118

Nedeau, Erik, 276, 227

Neighbor, Edward, 68

Neirman, Leonardo, 192, 193

Network Northeastern, 118

New England College of Pharmacy, 76

New England Merit Scholarships, 147
New England Quarterly, 72
New York Times, 1 08
Nikias, Chrysostomos, 100
Northeastern College, xiii
Northeastern News, 65, 201
Northeastern University of the Boston

YMCA, xiii
Northeastern University Corporation, xiii
Northeastern Unii^ersity Edition, 1, 10, 23
Northeastern University Magazine, 59, 1 22
Northeastern University Press, 21, 61
Northeastern Voice, 23-24, 32, 35, 39, 45,

47,64, 75,80,90,94,138,146,157
"Note to You" radio program, 74
nuArts performance series, 73
NUnet, 196, 198-200
NU Program in Multicultural Engineering

(NUPrime), 103

O'Bryant, John, 21, 22, 142, 154, 159, 171

Ockerbloom, Richard, 213

Office for the Support of Effective Teaching,

62
Office of Administration, 20
Office of Services for the Handicapped, 1 59
Ogden, Suzanne, 72
Olyha, Gail, 139, 140, 141
O'Neill, Christopher, 178,233
orientation program, 145
O'Toole, Thomas, 104
outreach programs, high school, 74
Owens, Edward, 163

Pagliarulo, Paul, 197

Palm, Margaret D., 193

Palm, NelsA., 111,193

Parcel 18 plan, 173

parent programs and services, 145

Parks and Recreation Department, Boston,

222
Parsons Field, xiii, 188, 214, 218, 220-221
part-time education

development of, xiv

growth of, 113-119

335

INDEX

part-time enrollments, 34

in University College, 113, 114-115,

117
Patterson, James, 136, 147
Patterson, P. J., T32
Pell Grants, 178
Pendergast, Katherine, 27, 37-38, 152, 156,

158,163
Penna, Anthony, 68
Pew Charitable Trust, 63
physician's assistant program, 78
Physics, Department of, 70
Picard, Dennis, 214
Pierce, Glenn, 44, 197, 199,200
Piatt, Harlan, 84
Plunkett, Patrick, 77, 78
Polaroid Corporation, 213
Political Science, Department of, 69-70
Ponce de Leon, Monica, 142
position review committee, 57
Pratt, Paul, 128

Presidential Nominating Council, 9
Pressley, William, 189-190, 193
Princeton Review, 1 08
Proakis, George, 140
Proakis, John, 100, 103, 140
Project SEED (Science Education through

Experiments and Demonstrations),

100
Project Teamwork, 158, 209, 225-226
provost, powers of, 16-17, 54
Psychology, Department of, 70, 72, 157-158
public school programs, 168-172
Puffer, Sheila, 84

Rajac Institution, 116

Ramamurti, Ravi, 84

Rasala, Richard, 64, 90, 197

Raytheon Amphitheater, 214

Raytheon Company, 213-214

recreation center project, failed, 1 74

recreation facilities. See also Marino Recre-
ation and Fitness Center
importanceof, 217-218, 227
projects and renovations for, 187-188,
219-222

recruitment, student, 42

Reebok Corporation, 158, 209, 225

registrar's office, 21

Reich, Robert, 234

Reppucci, Eugene M., jr., 79, 207, 208, 209,
210,212-213

Research Council, 68

research and scholarship
awards for, 60, 71-72,84
Bouve College of Pharmacy and Health

Sciences, 78-80
College of Arts and Sciences, 72
College of Business Administration, 84
College of Computer Science, 89-91
College of Criminal Justice, 93
College of Engineering, 95-96, 100-101
College of Nursing, 1 1 2
Curry's support for, 51 , 58-61 , 1 77-1 78

Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC),
146, 156

Resident Student Association, 140

residential life office, 21 , 1 44-1 45

retention, student, 51, 83-84, 138, 145

Reucroft, Stephen, 59, 71

Richards Hall, xiii

Rigg, Karen, 21, 22-23, 28, 137, 139, 146,
157

Robert D. Klein Lectureships, 71-72

Roberts, Daniel )., 6, 8-9, 18

Robinson, Mary, 732, 230

Robinson, Rachel, 160

Rodriguez, Willie, 157, 159

Rosenblatt, Norman, 91

Rosse, James, 33

Rowlands, Jeanne, 222-223

Ryder, Kenneth Gilmore, xi, xii, 1, 7, 8
achievements of, xiv-xv
and campus environment, 184, 189
and College of Computer Science, 87
and College of Liberal Arts, 68
Curry's admiration for, 4-5, 6
and health professions college plan, 77
praise for Curry, 7
projects developed by, 61 , 1 31 , 1 73, 206,

207, 221
and school desegration, 154

Ryder Hall, 187

336

INDEX

Sacco, Albert, Jr., 101, 702
Sarazen, James, 197
Sasaki Associates, 181
Scarborough, Jane, 22, 128

administrative changes by, 127-129

appointment as vice president of coop-
erative education, 22, 126-127,
156-157

on cooperative education, 123-124

on Curry's diversity policy, 153, 163
Schaen, Phyllis, 20, 21
Schmidt, Benno C, Jr., 33
Schneider, Herman, xiii
scholarship programs

Curry's support of, 58, 60, 1 47

Knowles's support of, 1 53

for National Merit Scholarship semi-
finalists, 55

for public schoolchildren, 1 69-1 70
Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores, 13,
18, 51, 69, 75-76, 80, 93, 95, 97, 109,
117,237
School of Commerce and Finance, xiii
School of Engineering Technology, 103
School of General Studies, 1 1 7. See also

Alternative Freshman Year program
School of Lavi/

facilities for, 187

grant funding for, 106, 107

Hall as dean of, 106-107

new/ programs of, 105-106

and public interest \aw, 65, 104, 107-109

recognition of, 108-109

reopening and expansion of, xiv, 104-
105
Schuler, Laura, 227
Science Hall, xiii
Scranton, Richard, 97
sculpture, campus, 191, 792, 793, 214
secondary school programs, 101
security, campus, 146
Serenyi, Peter, 182

71 6 Columbus Avenue project, 1 07, 1 73, 1 87
sexual harassment policy, 158
Sherman Fairchild Foundation, 112
Shillman, Robert, 138
Short, Janet, 169-170

Shubin, Mickhail, 71

Shure, Bob, 192

Silber, John, 52, 171,237

Silevitch, Michael, 59, 60, 100, 103

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, 108

Smith, Arthur, 9, 20-21, 52

Smith, Wendy, 72

SNAP (Student Needs Analysis Project),

143
Snell, George, 61, 184, 208, 213
Snell, Lorraine, 213
Snell Engineering Center, xv, 207, 208
Snell Library, 52, 137, 158, 181, 184, 193

and academic excellence, 61-62

facilities of, 184

funding for, 178,208,213

and NUnet, 200
Sochacki, Richard, 139
Solano, Kenneth, 115

Solomon, Bernard, 209, 211, 220-221, 227
Solomon, Samuel, 41
Solomon Track, xv
speaker series. College of Arts and Sciences,

72
Speare, Frank Palmer, xi, xii, xiii
Speare Hall, 144-145
special collections program, 62
Spector, Bert, 84
speech-language pathology and audiology

program, 41
Spiritual Life Center, 143
Spiritual Life office, 142
sports programs. See athletics programs
Stace, Peter, 28-29, 54, 55
Staff Council, 43

staff downsizing, 31-32, 36, 37-40, 43
Stanford University, 33
Stevenson, Robert, 59
Stone, Galen, 210
Stonely, Paul, 130
strategic initiatives fund, 57
Strauss, Phyllis, 67, 74
Stride Rite Charitable Foundation, 107
Stuart, Carol DiMaiti, 34
student affairs office, 21
Student Center, xiii, 45, 135-136, 138-141,
184, 187

337

INDEX

Student Government Association, 63

Studies in American Fiction, 72

Sullivan, Leon, 160

Sum, Andrew, 73

summer research programs, 72

Sunohara, Vicky, 227

Surette, Janet, 20, 21

Symphony United Neighbors, 166

Synopsys, Inc., 213

teaching improvements

Baer's views on, 62

forums on, 63

and general education model, 63-64

and new facilities, 63

and Office for the Support of Effective
Teaching, 62
technology infrastructure

computer systems, 144, 182

improvements in, 196-201
Tehrani, Nader, 142
Telecommunications Advisory Committee,

196-200
tenure, xiv, 63, 123, 125-126
Theory and Practice of Object Systems

(Leiberherr), 90
Thomas, Lara Ramey, 169
Thompson, Clarke, 144
Tiernan, Kip, 108

Tobacco Control Resource Center, 106
Tobacco Products Liability Project, 106
Tobin Scholars program, 169-170, 215
Toebes, Royal, 207, 209, 212
Tompkins, David, 103
Top Speaking Forums, 85
Totenberg, Nina, 108
Tracy, Paul, 94
Trauth, Eileen, 84
Truman Scholarships, 64, 74
Trusteeship, 47
Tschernisch, Sergei, 73
Tufts University School of Medicine, 83
tuition and fees, 34, 146-147

Ultimate Guide: Top Business Schools, 86

University College

enrollments in, 113, 114-115, 117
development and growth of, xiv, 113-

119
international programs of 116
merger with continuing education divi-
sion, 41

University of Massachusetts, 27, 97, 115

urban education programs, 74

Urban Law and Public Policy Institute, 107,
108-109

Urban Schools Collaborative, 154, 168,
214

Urwitz, Jay, 178

USA Today, 93

U.S. Agency for International Development,
131

U.S. Center for Disease Control and Preven-
tion, 106

U.S. Department of Education, grants to
School of Law, 106, 107

U.S. News d World Report, 65, 86, 108

Varsity Club, 188

Venter, Patricia, 127

vice presidents, number of 16, 19-20,

21-23,32
Viewlogic Systems, Inc., 208, 213
Voland, Gerard, 103
Vozzella, Robert, 128, 129, 130, 131

Walden, Nancy, 113

Walesa, Lech, 73, 230

Wall Street Journal, 25, 46, 65, 108

Wand, Mitchell, 89

Warren, David, 149, 177

Warren Center, 45, 193

Washington Post, 25

Waters, Laura, 137, 149

Weiss, Ira, 83,86

Weiss, Karl, 1,21-22, 123, 124

338

NDEX

Weld, William, 118, 174, 776-177,230,

233
Wentworth Institute, 222
Wertheim, Edward, 84
West Building, xiii
Wharton, David, 68
White, William C.xii, 4
Wiener, Marilyn, 117
Williams, Raymond, 118, 197
Willis, Robert H., 1,8, 10
Wise, Donald, 100
Wiseman, Frederick, 9
women, athletics programs for, 222-224
women faculty

and Curry's diversity policy, 22-23, 153,
156-157

in Division of Cooperative Education,
127

in School of Law, 105, 108
Wooldridge, Roy, 124-125

World Association for Cooperative Educa-
tion (WACE),121,130, 132, 133
The Write Place program, 1 1 7
Wu, FaYueh, 71

Yale University, 33
Yawkey Foundation, 192
Yegian, Mishac, 47, 98, 234, 235
YMCA, xi, xii-xiii, 153
Young, Barbara, 214
Young, Cy, 191-192
Young, Stanley, 192-193,214
Young Scholars program, 100

Zahapoulos, Christos, 100

Zion, Leonard, 131

Zraket, Charles, 208, 209, 211

Zungolo, Eileen, 709,110-111,113,214,235

339

More important, however, the university
thrived academically throughout the Curry administra-
tion, in spite of the budget problems. Average freshman
SAT scores rose significantly; nearly 30 academic
programs were established; nationally known scholars
were hired; and new and renovated facilities provided
high-quality space for both research and teaching,
changing the campus into one of the most inviting in
Massachusetts. Fundraising, strongly geared toward
academic enhancement, hit an all-time high. A multi-
million-dollar computer network was created.

Northeastern also forged stronger ties with
its immediate neighbors and with local, state, and
federal governments. Curry himself served as an
eloquent spokesman on higher education issues, as
well as a worldwide ambassador preaching the gospel
of co-op. Expanded public relations spread news of
Northeastem's successes across the nation. And the
university became more diverse and tolerant.

Over the course of Curry's seven years as
president. Northeastern shrank in size by nearly a
third, yet at the same time it matured in status, mov-
ing decisively into the ranks of national research
universities. And, for Northeastem's faculty and
students, the university became a far better place to
work and study.

Karen Feldscher, who spent the early part of her career
as a reporter for a daily newspaper, began working at
Northeastern University in 1984, the same year John
Curry became executive vice president. As editor of
Northeastem's in-house newspaper for faculty and staff,
she worked closely with Curry and became familiar with
the university's successes and struggles. She also edited
a research journal for Northeastern, wrote for its alumni
magazine, and authored several annual reports.

COVER PHOTO BY ID. LEVINE, BACK PHOTO BY TONY RINALDO

"A great university worthy of the name is always changing, ahvays in
the process of becoming something different and something better."

— John Anthony Curry, May 1992

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